Star Wars (Starring the Doctor) Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
by blade0627
Summary: The time has come at last. The stage is set for a final confrontation between the Jedi and Sith over the forest moon of Endor. The Doctor and his Jedi companions must work to defeat the Empire, while the Grand Master himself must deal with his own personal conflicts. By the time this is over, a few hearts-or perhaps more-will be broken. It ends here and now. I don't own DW or SW.
1. Ultimate Plans

Prologue: Ultimate Plans

The Galactic Civil War was about to come to an end, and this was a time of plans coming together. For the Gallifreyan Jedi Master known as the Doctor, it meant the imminent rescue of his friend, Han Solo, who had been imprisoned in carbonite for a year, held in the palace of Jabba Desilijic Tiure on Tatooine. After a year of waiting for a signal, Han's old friend, Lando Calrissian, and his Wookiee first mate, Chewbacca, had finally contacted the Rebellion, telling him that their plan was ready.

After Lando and Chewbacca had contacted the Rebellion, a small team, consisting of the Doctor, Luke, Leia Organa, Luke's unwitting twin sister, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke's mentor and friend, Jennara Oswin, the Doctor's former student and object of his great affection, though he did not like to admit it, and Alliance droids C-3PO and R2-D2, was sent to Tatooine to retrieve Han from Jabba's clutches. Chewbacca met the team when they landed, and it was decided that they would simply leave the decrepit freighter they were using and escape on the _Millenium Falcon_ , which Chewbacca had completely repaired by himself, having had nothing else to do for the past year.

And while the Rebels were planning the rescue of their good friend, Han, the evil Darth Sidious and his apprentice and right-hand man, Darth Vader, were planning the Rebellion's ultimate destruction. After the destruction of the Death Star four years previously, Sidious and Vader began secret construction on a second Death Star that, when completed, would be even more powerful than the first Death Star. As it was right now, the Second Death Star was still incomplete. The Rebels had found out about the construction only days before the Doctor and his team left for Tatooine, and they were currently planning to destroy it before it could spell certain doom for the Rebels and their cause.

Meanwhile, the Force's ultimate plan for the destiny of the Jedi was coming to a head as well. The Doctor could sense that it was almost time for Luke Skywalker to face his ultimate test: the destruction of the Sith.

This is the story of the Doctor during the long-awaited realization of the ultimate plans, the final chapters of the Galactic Civil War, and the return of the Jedi.


	2. Meetings at the Palace

Chapter One: Meetings at the Palace

The Doctor and his companions sat in a small cave out in the vast deserts of the planet Tatooine, waiting for a signal from Lando Calrissian telling them to begin putting their plan into action. It should have been simple. All they needed to do was break Han Solo out of the captivity of Jabba the Hutt.

But the Doctor knew that it wouldn't be that simple. It never was. There would be some sort of complication, which was why he had come up with the contingencies that they would probably have to implement during this mission.

They would first send R2-D2 and C-3PO into Jabba's Palace with a message from Luke addressed to Jabba himself, asking the gangster to free Han Solo and offer 3PO and R2 as a trade. The Doctor, since he was almost unrecognizable to anyone but the Rebels and the Sith, would then approach Jabba with a large sum of credits and buy the droids back.

If that didn't work out as planned, they would then send in Leia Organa, disguised as Ubese bounty hunter Boushh, along with Chewbacca, who would be acting as a bounty brought in by Boushh, who had, in reality, been killed a year ago by Guri, a member of the notorious Black Sun syndicate. Guri had gifted Leia with the armor, since it fit her perfectly, and her impersonation of the Ubese was so flawless, that it was merely thought that Boushh had retired. Leia would then release Han from his carbon freeze and steal Chewbacca and the droids back from Jabba.

If that failed, the four remaining Jedi in the galaxy-the Doctor, Luke, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke's good friend and mentor, and Jennara Oswin, the Doctor's former Padawan-would pay Jabba a visit to negotiate the release of everyone who had come before. Han, Chewbacca, Leia, and the droids would all be released, and Lando, who had spent almost a year undercover as a Palace guard, would volunteer to see them out and conveniently never come back.

If the Jedi somehow failed to negotiate with Jabba, the Doctor had a final contingency plan that probably involved a lot of guns, which the Doctor didn't particularly enjoy, as well as lightsabers, a Sarlacc, and R2-D2.

Off to the side of the cave, while Leia was working on what she would say and translating it to Ubese, Luke Skywalker was tinkering with his new lightsaber. After he lost the one used by both Luke and his father, the man known as Darth Vader, formerly known as Anakin Skywalker, in a duel with the same man, Luke had constructed a new lightsaber in the style of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Like the Doctor's lightsaber, its blade glowed green when activated. Its internal design, the wires and metals making it work, were similar to the inner workings of Jennara's yellow-bladed lightsaber. Luke had practiced his saber techniques with the new lightsaber, and he had made astounding progress in the last year alone. The Doctor smiled at Luke's diligence in tinkering with his saber as the Gallifreyan's communicator went off. He took it off his belt and activated it.

"This is the Doctor," he said.

"We're ready," was the response he got from Lando Calrissian. The Doctor knew that Lando had to keep the communication brief, or else he would be discovered by Jabba's other security and most likely be killed. The Doctor could not allow that, so he switched off the communicator as soon as Lando's message was made clear. He pocketed his communicator and walked over to Luke, still tinkering with his lightsaber.

"Lando just contacted," he said. "It's time."

Luke nodded, then joined the Doctor, Obi-Wan, and Jennara as they walked over to the droids to prep them for their mission.

The Doctor patted R2 on the dome as he handed his lightsaber to R2, who stuck it inside his dome for storage. Jennara gave R2 her lightsaber as well, and then Obi-Wan gave his lightsaber to R2. Finally, Luke gave his new lightsaber to R2, and the plucky astromech droid had four lightsabers inside of him.

"A regular old General Grievous," said the Doctor jokingly, to which R2 made the droid equivalent of a raspberry at his Gallifreyan friend.

"Hey, keep those safe for us, will you?" said Jennara, smiling at the little astromech.

R2 beeped, promising to keep the Jedi's lightsabers safe.

"Okay, buddy, one more thing," said Luke. "We've got a message to deliver."

R2 beeped and whistled, saying that he would activate his holorecording device as soon as Luke started talking. While Luke was reciting the speech to Jabba that he had come up with soon after landing on Tatooine, the Doctor could sense Leia discreetly making sure that 3PO was out of earshot. The team hadn't quite told the protocol droid the extent of his role, and with good reason. If he knew the entirety of his role, 3PO would blow his cover instantly because of his worrisome personality.

"Greetings, Exalted One," began Luke, and the Doctor watched with great pride as the young Jedi spoke with the commanding presence of any of his colleagues. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Luke Skywalker, Jedi and friend to Captain Han Solo. I know that you are powerful, mighty Jabba, and that your anger with Solo must be equally powerful. I seek an audience with Your Greatness to bargain for Solo's life. With your wisdom, I'm sure that we can work out an arrangement which will be mutually beneficial and enable us to avoid any unpleasant confrontation. And, as a token of goodwill from myself to you, mighty Jabba, I present to you a gift: these two droids. Both are hardworking and will serve you well. Thank you, O Great One, for your valuable time."

Luke stopped speaking, and R2 shut off his holorecorder. The Doctor, Jennara, Obi-Wan, Leia, and Chewbacca all rejoined Luke, congratulating him on his wonderful speech.

"That was brilliant!" cried Jennara.

"Truly excellent," said Obi-Wan. "I am very proud of you."

"You were great!" cried Leia.

"Bacca has blessed you with the gift of speech, my friend," said Chewbacca.

"Fantastic work, Luke," cheered the Doctor. "Now, we can begin execution of our plan."

"Right," said Luke, taking in a deep breath as he prepared himself for the rescue of his good friend. "R2, you ready?"

R2-D2 beeped and whistled with a tone of acknowledgement. He was completely ready.

"Good," said Luke. "3PO!" he called to the protocol droid, who turned around at the sound of his name and came to Luke and the others as fast as he could.

"Yes, Master Luke?" he asked, ready for orders.

"You're going to be going into Jabba the Hutt palace now," said Luke. "You're going to accompany R2 as he delivers a message that I just placed in his memory banks."

"Of course, Master Luke, but I really must object," began 3PO. "I personally do not want to set foot in that awful place. It's much too violent for me. And I'm sure R2 agrees with me."

R2 splatted at 3PO, indicating that he did not agree in the slightest.

"Oh, hush now, R2," admonished 3PO. "You obviously don't know what you're talking about."

"3PO, this is for Han," said Leia urgently. "If you don't go in there, we might never get him back."

3PO paused for a moment, the gears whirring in his head.

"In that case, then, I suppose that I have a message to deliver," he said importantly.

"Now, remember, 3PO," said the Doctor. "You are to give that message to Jabba and only to Jabba. Understand?"

"Of course, sir," said 3PO. "Come along, R2."

And the droids trotted off toward Jabba's palace.

"He won't go for it," said Leia. "These gangster types are known to go back on deals if the outcome doesn't please them. Jabba will just keep the droids and Han."

"I know," said the Doctor. "I'm counting on it, in fact, hence the contingencies."

"I just hope Han makes it out okay," said Leia, her tone worrying and a bit desperate.

"Me too," said Luke, putting a hand on Leia's shoulder.

The group separated for a little, waiting for Lando to contact them again with the results of Luke's message.

The Doctor sat near the back of the cave, meditating for a good hour. He was trying to find answers on whether or not Han's freedom is what the Force had in mind. He couldn't get anything. Something evil was stirring the pot and making it difficult to see the future. Would Han play a part in future events? The Doctor wasn't sure, but he had to hope that the smuggler-turned-Rebel-hero would still have a bit of fight left in him.

"How are you feeling?" asked a voice from behind him.

The Doctor turned to see Jennara Oswin staring down at him, a slightly concerned expression on her face.

"I'm okay," said the Doctor.

"Are you sure?" asked Jennara, sitting down right beside him.

"I'm always okay," said the Doctor proudly. "I'm the King of Okay."

Jennara looked at him with an expression that said, "Seriously?"

"Right, yeah, don't call me the King of Okay. I'm just the Doctor."

"Doctor," said Jennara warily. Her head lowered a fraction, as if she were nervous or embarrassed about what she was going to say next.

"Yes?" said the Doctor.

"Can we talk?" asked Jennara.

"Of course," said the Doctor. "What about?"

"I want to talk about-"

But Jennara was interrupted by the chirping of the communicator. The Doctor's hand flashed to his belt, whereupon he picked up his communicator and activated it.

"Doctor here," he said as he stood up inside the cave.

"Jabba has received the message," said the voice of Lando Calrissian quietly. "He's keeping the droids and Solo, with no intention of bargaining. I hope this wasn't your only plan."

"Oh no, Lando, we've got a few more tricks up our sleeves," assured the Doctor. As he deactivated his communicator, the Doctor looked back at Jennara, who looked very disappointed and slightly miffed.

"There was something you wanted to tell me?" asked the Doctor.

"Never mind," said Jennara, standing up a bit angrily and strolling off to tinker with her own communicator absent-mindedly.

The Doctor didn't like to see Jennara angry. He liked to see her happy and smiling. He didn't quite know what she wanted to talk to him about, but he had an idea, and it made his hearts flutter a little to just think about it.

 _Stop,_ the Doctor commanded himself. _Focus on the mission._

The Doctor approached Leia and Chewbacca. Leia nodded once, knowing that she was up.

"It's your turn," said the Doctor.

"Right," said Leia, putting on her helmet. "How do I look?" she asked in Ubese, one of the languages she could speak quite fluently.

"Like a genderless bounty hunter," answered the Doctor, also in Ubese.

"Thanks," said Leia in sarcastic Ubese.

"May the Force be with you both," said the Doctor, bowing to both Leia and Chewbacca as they turned to leave for Jabba's palace.

"And also with you, Doctor," said Chewbacca as he walked with Leia to the palace.

That left the Jedi alone. The Doctor looked at Luke, and he could tell that the boy was thinking about Darth Vader. Ever since Luke had fought Vader on Bespin and found out that Vader was, in fact, his father, he had adopted a relentless mindset of turning him back to the light. Luke, like his mother, the Doctor recalled, thought that there was still a shred of Anakin Skywalker living in the shell of Darth Vader. And the Doctor, maybe against his better judgement, agreed with him. He didn't know whether Jennara agreed, and he was sure that Obi-Wan didn't agree. But, for what it was worth, the Doctor agreed with Luke's sentiment. Vader, unlike his Master, Sidious, could be redeemed.

The Doctor knew that Luke would want an explanation for why he had been lied to by three people he trusted dearly. As he looked at Luke, he could tell that the young man wanted one as soon as possible. He had approached the Doctor after the encounter on Bespin with the request, but the Doctor had told him that all would be explained after they had gotten Han back. Luke, while slightly impatient for the explanation, understood very easily that Han's safety was more important. The Doctor felt a rush of respect for Luke as he remembered the conversation.

Night had fallen on Tatooine. Leia, Chewbacca, and the droids had been inside that palace for several hours, Lando for a whole year. The Doctor worried for their safety, but tried to tell himself that he didn't really need to. Lando, Leia, Chewbacca, R2, and even 3PO were capable enough to handle themselves without the Doctor worrying about them.

Then, of course, his communicator went off again.

"The Doctor speaking," said the Doctor as Luke, Jennara, and Obi-Wan crowded around the Doctor to hear what Lando had to report.

"I've got good news and bad news," said the voice of Lando.

"What's the good news?" asked Luke, just as eager as the Doctor was to hear Lando's report.

"Han's freed from the carbonite," said Lando. "You were right about the hibernation sickness, Doctor. He was in there for a bit too long. His eyesight's hampered, but, fortunately, it's not too bad. He should have it back soon."

"That's wonderful!" whooped Jennara. "But what's the bad news?"

"Leia's been captured," said Lando sadly. "She's been turned into some sort of slave by Jabba. Han's been put down in the dungeons with Chewbacca. 3PO is still at Jabba's side, and R2 has been put to service on Jabba's sail barge."

"Has your deception been uncovered?" asked Obi-Wan.

"Thankfully, no," answered Lando. "I'm still considered by Jabba to be just one of his guards."

"Good," said the Doctor. "We'll be there by morning."

"We await your arrival," said Lando, and the communication was cut off.

The Jedi were alone in the cave once more. It was decided that they should get some sleep. The Doctor would, of course, stay awake. He didn't need as much sleep as his fellow Jedi, nor did he need it as frequently, and he certainly wasn't feeling tired at all at this moment in time.

During the night, he thought about his life. The Doctor quickly remembered that he was nine hundred and thirty-six years old. Was he really that old? It didn't quite seem possible, but here he was, sitting in a cave with nine hundred and thirty-six years of life under his belt. It really didn't seem that long, but maybe that was because he was so old that the years just blended together.

The Doctor recalled the past thirty-six years of his life, which he considered to be a time of war between the Jedi and the Sith. He remembered the four Sith Lords he had fought at one point or another: Maul, Dooku, Vader, and Sidious. All of them, Sidious especially, had plotted the Jedi's ultimate destruction, and they had almost succeeded. Only four Jedi remained in the galaxy. The rest were all dead. The Doctor could sense it. The Doctor could also sense, however, that the time was soon arrived where the Sith would be defeated. The Force was telling him this, and he took it as truth. When it came time to actually confront the Sith, however, would he be ready? Would anyone be ready? Of this, he wasn't quite sure.

The Doctor felt the heat of the twin suns of Tatooine, and he knew that it was time to meet Jabba the Hutt. The Doctor had never actually come face-to-face with the Hutt personally, but he knew of several of his exploits. The Hutts controlled a lot of Tatooine, and they generally ignored anything that concerned galactic law. Then again, the Doctor had recently been doing the same thing, what with his position in the Rebel Alliance, but that hardly made him and Jabba kindred spirits.

The four Jedi put on their outer cloaks and their hoods as they made to walk to Jabba's palace. Obi-Wan was in a standard brown cloak that he had had since the Clone War. Luke wore a black cloak to match his new black shirt and pants made for comfortability and durability. Jennara was wrapped up in a darker brown cloak that the Doctor had made for her on her thirtieth name-day. She held it tight against her body, as if deriving some sort of comfort from the cloak.

The Doctor himself wore the dark brown cloak he had procured from the Rebels after the Battle of Yavin. He liked that particular cloak, although he felt the desire to eventually upgrade to something of a different color. Perhaps purple. Purple would do nicely, the Doctor thought to himself. He thought Jennara would get a kick out of it, certainly.

"Coming, Doctor?" asked Jennara, pulling the Doctor out of his thoughts. He saw that she, Obi-Wan, and Luke had already started toward the palace, and that he had fallen behind.

Tugging on the edges of his bow tie, the Doctor smiled and said, "Of course."

And together, the four Jedi left the cave for their meeting with Jabba the Hutt.

It was no use for Luke to go to Jabba's palace alone. Jabba wasn't wise when the droids came with the message. He didn't want to bargain. Now, the full might of the Jedi would be upon him. All four of them would be there now to have him answer for his foolishness.

The four Jedi arrived at Jabba the Hutt's palace. After Jennara successfully hacked into the front door's security controls to let them in, the Jedi strolled into the dimly-lit palace, the Doctor with a particular swagger about him. At least, he thought it was cool. He could sense Jennara laughing on the inside at the way the Doctor conducted himself.

 _You are just embarrassing,_ she thought to him jokingly.

 _Yeah, you always think that,_ the Doctor thought back, equally as jokingly.

The Jedi were soon stopped by a pair of rather portly and mean-looking Gamorrean guards. The guards looked like fat, green, humanoid pigs, and they smelled even worse.

"You cannot pass," said one of the guards in a snorted sort of language that the Doctor recognized immediately as Gamorrean.

"Well, that's awfully rude of you," said Jennara sarcastically to the guards as Obi-Wan pushed them away with a wave of his hand. The guards flew to either sides of the cavernous room they were in and were knocked unconscious.

"Certainly effective," muttered the Doctor as the four Jedi found their way to the main hall of the palace, wherein Jabba and company were all sleeping.

As they walked down the stairs and into the main hall, the Hutt gangster's majordomo, whom Lando had named Bib Fortuna, ran up the stairs to meet them.

"I know you," he said in Huttese. "You are Jedi. Jabba does not wish to speak with you. Any of you. Especially you, Skywalker."

"Well, we want to speak with Jabba," Jennara fired back. "Is that a problem?"

"It is," said Fortuna. "Jabba has received your message, Jedi, and he says that there will be no bargain. Take your fancy powers and your laser swords away from us."

The Doctor needed only to focus a small portion of his mind to use Mind Trick on the rather weak Fortuna.

"You will take us to Jabba now," he commanded with a quick wave of his hand.

"I will take you to Jabba now," said Fortuna, far more airily than when he first spoke.

As Fortuna led them into the main hall, the Doctor could see many different faces of many different species. Quarren, Gamorrean, human, and Whipid stood out prominently, but the Doctor could see many others, like Gand, Twi-lek, and even a Jawa. The Doctor could even pick out Boba Fett in his green-and-grey armor and Mandalorian jetpack that might have once belonged to his father, Jango Fett. All of them woke up and stared, wild-eyed, at the four Jedi who dared to enter their master's palace. At one end of the room sat the master of the house himself, Jabba Desilijic Tiure.

Jabba was massive, even by Hutt standards, but, then again, what did the Doctor really expect? He was still sleeping while the rest of his palace lit up for the Jedi. In front of Jabba sat a rather scantily-clad Leia Organa, and the Doctor felt the sudden urge to look away for some weird reason. He supposed that Leia's scantily-cladness was the end result of getting captured.

 _Lovely,_ thought the Doctor. _Great work, Jabba. Very flattering outfit you have her in._

"At last!" cried C-3PO from behind Jabba. "The Jedi have come to rescue me!"

The Doctor chuckled to himself at C-3PO's unintentionally hilarious comment as Bib Fortuna moved to wake his master, Jabba.

"Master," he whispered in Jabba's ear.

Jabba awoke with a start and asked his majordomo what he had awoken him for.

"These Jedi are here to see you," said Fortuna, pointing to each Jedi in turn. "Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jennara Oswin, and...I actually don't know who that one is." He made this last comment as he pointed to the Doctor, who smiled a little to himself.

"It doesn't matter who he is, you idiot!" shouted Jabba in Huttese. "They're Jedi! I told you not to admit them!"

"We must be allowed to speak," said the Doctor, continuing his trickery of the majordomo.

"They must be allowed to speak," repeated Fortuna, his will eroding to the Doctor's constant stream of Mind Trick.

"What did you just say?!" bellowed Jabba. "You weak-minded idiot! That Jedi is using an old Mind Trick on you!"

At this, Jabba threw Fortuna away, and he landed on the floor with a crash.

"You will bring Captain Solo and his friends to me," said Luke forcefully, throwing down his hood at the same time.

"Luke, I wouldn't try that if I were you," said the Doctor.

"Why not?" asked Luke.

"Your friend is right, Skywalker," laughed Jabba. "Your mind powers won't work on me."

"That doesn't matter, Jabba," said the Doctor angrily, his righteous fury at Jabba's injustice toward the Doctor's friends boiling up. "Because we're taking Captain Solo, and his friends, too. Now, you can either profit by this, or you can be destroyed."

Jabba seemed unfazed by the Doctor as Obi-Wan joined him and spoke up.

"It is your choice alone, Jabba, but I must warn you not to underestimate us," he said.

"Any of us," said Jennara, her small frame conveying power beyond that of any normal person her age.

"Master Luke, be careful!" cried 3PO. "You're standing on-"

"There will be no bargain, Jedi!" interrupted Jabba. "And I shall enjoy watching all of you die."

The Doctor looked to his left and saw Lando inching up toward Jabba, ready to fight if things got ugly. What had 3PO wanted to tell them?

The next few seconds were a whirlwind of motion. All at once, Luke, almost instantly followed by the other Jedi, quickly grabbed blasters from four different guards using the Force. But before they could do much with them, Jabba smashed his hand on a button. The Doctor felt the sudden sensation of the floor opening up beneath him and gravity dragging down him, Jennara, Obi-Wan, Luke, and a Gamorrean who had tried to take Luke's stolen blaster away. Unfortunately, he was the only one who had actually managed to catch one. The Doctor, Jennara, and Obi-Wan hadn't reacted fast enough to Luke's spontaneous idea, and three blasters had suddenly flown through the room and not into any of the Jedi's hands.

Cursing himself as he and the other Jedi toppled down into a large, sandy pit, the Doctor quickly prepared himself for what was about to come. The other Jedi took up fighting stances as the Gamorrean guard struggled to try and get back to the main hall. It was no use for him, however, as the way back was already shut off to him.

There was a massive, gate-like door before them. As it opened, the Doctor could sense a primal hunger emanating in waves from whatever was waiting for its next meal, which was probably the Doctor and the Jedi.

The Doctor heard a roar coming from the gate, and his eyes lit up. He knew exactly what was going to try to make a meal out of them in a few minutes.

It was a rancor.

* * *

 **Dun dun DUUUUUUUNNNN! Big opening here, folks, ending with the introduction to the rancor! Woot woot! It's very exciting!**

 **Hello, everyone! Welcome to Star Wars (Starring the Doctor) Episode VI: Return of the Jedi! It's an exciting time, friends! Things happen! Plot lines that have been mentioned since literally Episode II will finally be resolved! It's gonna be great! And I'm glad you're here on this ride with me! I really don't think I could have done this without your support! So thank you! But now, onto the story and such!**

 **What did you think of this chapter? Leave your thoughts in a review! I promise that I do read them all!**

 **Next Friday: The Jedi do battle with the rancor and, later, the almighty Sarlacc itself!**

 **And that about does it for this rather short and hopefully welcoming author's note. Until the next chapter, my friends!**


	3. The Last Contingency

Chapter Two: The Last Contingency

"Oh, you are beautiful!" marveled the Doctor as the rancor roared hungrily at its next meal. "I mean, you're trying to eat us alive, and I acknowledge that that is extremely very not good, but still! You're a gorgeous creature, you are!"

"Doctor!" cried Jennara. "Would you mind not standing there and ogling at the thing that's trying to turn us into breakfast?"

"Right you are, Jennara," said the Doctor as he rejoined his fellow Jedi, who were backing away from the advancing rancor.

The poor Gamorrean who was trapped with them squealed in terror, and that was enough to attract the rancor's attention. The huge beast turned on him and started to make its way toward the first course of its meal.

"NOOOOO!" shouted the Gamorrean as the rancor picked him up and opened its gaping jaw.

The Doctor looked away as the Gamorrean's shouts and screams were silenced by the rancor's teeth. That could happen to any of them, the Doctor thought, and he personally could not count on regeneration to help him out here.

"A lightsaber would be really great right now!" shouted Luke.

"Was this ever part of the plan?" asked Jennara.

"To be honest, no," said the Doctor. "We'll just have to improvise."

"With what?!" cried Jennara.

"I don't know!" shouted the Doctor. "Just improvise!"

"Over there!" called Obi-Wan, pointing behind the rancor to a door in the very back of the chamber. The Doctor hadn't seen it before because the rancor's door was blocking it from his view. And instantly, the Doctor had a plan.

"Follow me!" he called.

The Doctor quickly used a power he had learned in his fifth life called Beast Trick, a variant of Mind Trick, on the rancor. It was difficult, as the beast was tough, but it worked. The rancor stumbled about the huge dungeon confusedly as the four Jedi sprinted over to the back of the room.

Obi-Wan was the first to the door, and he opened it to reveal yet another gate blocking their way. Luke cursed in frustration. There was no way out. They were trapped in here. It was only a matter of time before the rancor ate them all. Frantically, the Doctor searched for a way to get them out of this situation.

And then he saw it.

The Doctor spied the control panel for the rancor's gate door.

"Jennara!" he called. "Bash that control panel!"

"Got it!" Jennara called back. As she made her way to the control panel, the Doctor ran right under the door and lifted up his hands. Using the Force, he grabbed at the door and held it as Jennara bashed the control panel with a skull she had found lying on the ground. It wasn't easy. The door was immensely heavy.

"Doctor, what do you have in mind?" asked Obi-Wan.

"Right now, I'm just trying to hold up this massive door," said the Doctor strainedly as the rancor came out of its daze and made its way straight to the Doctor.

"Yeah, rancor, you just walk right to me and this immensely heavy door," said the Doctor.

The rancor stopped, much to the Doctor's frustration, and gave a roar that sounded like one of triumph.

"Yes, thank you for that," strained the Doctor. "Have I mentioned that I'm trying to hold up this quite astonishingly heavy door?"

The rancor seemed to respond to the Doctor, and it quickly moved toward the Doctor, who stepped back a little bit, still holding the door up, though barely. The rancor took the bait, moving until it was right under the door. It tried to grab at the Doctor, but the Gallifreyan jumped out of the way, letting go of the door in the process.

The door came crashing down on the rancor's head, crushing it under the weight of the door. The rancor's tough exterior was enough to keep the door from going right through its head and back onto the sandy floor, but there was no mistaking it. The rancor was dead.

"Good work," said Luke.

"Not quite," said the Doctor, looking sadly at the beast he had just killed.

The laughter that had accompanied the fight with the rancor had quickly dissipated. Cries of "What?!" and "What in the galaxy just happened?!" emanated throughout the palace. Above it all boomed the loud voice of Jabba the Hutt.

"Bring me Solo, the Wookiee, and those stinking Jedi!" he bellowed. "They will all suffer for this outrage! Do you hear me?! THEY WILL SUFFER!"

The Jedi were quickly apprehended by several guards, including Lando, who grabbed the Doctor and whispered, "You've got a plan, I assume?"

"Oh, yes," whispered the Doctor, so low that only Lando could hear it. "We know what to do."

The Doctor saw Han and Chewbacca being brought in by more guards, and all six of the prisoners were brought before Jabba the Hutt.

"Han!" called out Luke.

"Luke!" cried Han, who was looking away from Luke, as he couldn't see him.

"We're all together again, I see," said Jennara.

"Hey, Jennara," said Han. "Are all the Jedi here?"

"Yup," said the Doctor.

"Yes indeed," said Obi-Wan.

"Well, how are we doing?" asked Han.

"Same as usual," said Luke with a smirk.

"That bad, huh?" said Han.

"Could be worse, though," said the Doctor.

"How so?" asked Han sarcastically.

"You'll see," the Doctor said cryptically as Han looked around for someone.

"Where's Leia?" he asked.

"I'm here," answered the still scantily-clad Leia from her position in front of Jabba.

Silence filled the room once more as Jabba's voice boomed in Huttese.

"Droid, tell them," commanded Jabba to C-3PO.

"Oh dear," said 3PO, obviously dreading what he was being made to say. "His Mighty Exaltedness, Jabba Desilijic Tiure, has decreed that you are to be terminated immediately."

"Good," said Jennara. "I really do hate long waits."

"You will, therefore, be taken to the Great Pit of Carkoon in the Dune Sea, the nesting place of the all-powerful Sarlacc," continued 3PO.

"Doesn't sound too bad," said Han sarcastically.

"In his belly, you will find a new definition of pain and suffering as you are slowly digested over a thousand years," finished 3PO, who shuddered at the thought of it.

"Yeah, on second thought, I'll pass," said Han.

"Oh, I don't know," said the Doctor. "I think I've got that kind of time in me. What do you think, Benny boy?"

"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not," said Obi-Wan.

"You should have bargained with us, Jabba," warned Luke. "It's the last mistake you'll ever make."

And the prisoners were all filed out of the palace to be taken to their doom.

The Dune Sea was hot. Not that it bothered the Doctor, but he had noticed a significant increase in temperature from the palace to the Dune Sea.

The prisoners were placed on one skiff with several guards, one of whom was Lando Calrissian. The rest of the guards took up a post on another skiff, while the palace guests and staff took up room on Jabba the Hutt's personal sail barge. The Doctor could hear music blasting from the sail barge.

 _This must be a party to them,_ the Doctor thought. _This'll be a bit of a shock for them, won't it?_

"I think my eyes are getting better," Han observed out loud.

"How do you mean?" asked Jennara.

"Well, instead of a big dark blur, I can see a big light blur," said Han.

"There is not much to see, Captain Solo," said Obi-Wan.

"Ben's right," said Luke. "After all, we both used to live here, you know."

"You're going to die here, too," said Han. "It's convenient, in a way."

"Just stick close to Chewbacca and Lando, Han," said the Doctor. "We've taken care of everything. This contingency is bound to work."

"Great," said Han sarcastically, as though he didn't believe what the Doctor was saying.

At last, the skiff came to a halt right above a particularly nasty-looking Sarlacc that waved its tentacles around hungrily as the plank extended, and the Doctor was pushed right to the edge of the plank. The Doctor could sense disgust coming from the prisoners and Lando.

"Gross," commented Chewbacca.

"Victims of the almighty Sarlacc," said 3PO, sounding as if he were being forced to read from a script given to him by Jabba, "His Excellency hopes that you will die honorably. But, should any of you wish to beg for mercy, the Great One will now listen to your pleas."

"Beg for mercy to that slug or be digested for a thousand years?" asked Jennara quietly. "I think I'll take my chances with digestion."

"3PO," called Han, "you tell that slimy piece of worm-ridden filth that he'll have no such pleasure from us!"

"That's right!" called Chewbacca.

The Doctor looked around the sail barge and soon found R2-D2 sitting up at the top deck. Four distinct glints of silver could be seen sticking out from the top of his dome. The Doctor smiled a little to himself. R2 was ready when they were.

"Jabba," the Doctor called bravely, "this is your last chance. Free us now!"

"I don't think so, Jedi!" laughed Jabba. "Put him in!"

The Doctor felt a pike prodding his back gently. He looked up at R2, standing at the ready. He looked to Lando and nodded a nod that said, "Everything is ready." Lando nodded back, telling the Doctor that he was ready when the Gallifreyan was. Everything was in place, exactly according to plan. This was it. All he needed to do was jump.

"GERONIMOOOOOOOOO!" the Doctor shouted at the top of his lungs as he jumped off the plank.

But he did not fall into the Sarlacc as was intended. Instead, he turned around, grabbed the edge of the plank, and flipped right back onto the skiff. The moment the Doctor grabbed the plank, he heard four THUNK sounds, and he knew that R2 had launched the Jedi's lightsabers into the air. The Doctor landed on the skiff, much to the surprise of the guards, and caught his lightsaber. Activating it, he quickly sent the guard who had been rudely poking him overboard into the Sarlacc.

The Doctor then heard three more sounds of activating lightsabers, and he knew that his Jedi comrades had caught their sabers as well.

"How's that for moves?!" shouted the Doctor over the sounds of screaming and blasterfire.

"Really good," said Jennara, blushing a little as the Doctor winked at her.

The Doctor, Jennara, and Luke slashed their way through their skiff while Obi-Wan used his lightsaber to cut Han and Chewbacca's cuffs. Meanwhile, Lando was struggling with a guard he had attacked when the Doctor's contingency went into effect.

The Doctor heard a fairly large explosion coming from where he had last seen Lando. The Doctor turned and saw Lando hanging over the edge of the skiff by a rope, the guard he was struggling against tumbling into the Sarlacc as several of his comrades had done before him.

"Help!" cried Lando.

"We'll get him!" called Chewbacca as he pulled Han of to rescue Lando. "You take care of rescuing Leia and the droids!"

"Right!" called the Doctor. "Come on!" Just then, the Doctor heard a noise that sounded like a jetpack flying someone through the air.

"Prepare to die, Jedi!" shouted Boba Fett as the Mandalorian landed right in front of the Doctor and aimed his weapon at him.

The Doctor deflected several short-range blasts from Boba Fett's gun as Luke, Jennara, and Obi-Wan clambered around the duel between Fett and the Doctor to get to the second skiff, which had just floated over toward the first skiff to try and subdue the Jedi. They knew to leave the Doctor to it. In a short-range fight like this one, the Doctor nearly always won.

Boba Fett had fired off twelve shots before the Doctor managed to slice through his blaster. Fett responded in kind by punching the Doctor right in the face, causing him to stumble and drop his lightsaber. Fett tried to tackle the Doctor as he got back up, but the Gallifreyan was too quick. He met the Mandalorian head-on, and the two traded blows until the Doctor finally managed to kick Fett in his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him. The Doctor pulled his lightsaber to him with the Force left Fett wheezing on the ground for a moment. He didn't even think once about leaving the bounty hunter alive. He still harbored guilt about taking Fett's father, Jango, away from him during the Battle of Geonosis. He didn't want to kill Boba, too.

The Doctor jumped over to the second skiff to join his fellow Jedi in hacking through Jabba's weak defenses. They had gotten about halfway through when the shutters on the sail barge suddenly closed, and the Doctor suspected Leia had something to do with it. The Gallifreyan could hear panicked screams coming from the barge as he and the Jedi continued to hack and slash their way through the skiff guards. They had to get on the barge to pick up Leia and the droids. Leia and R2 could handle themselves, the Doctor was sure, but it was 3PO he wasn't so sure about.

Suddenly, the Doctor heard a shout coming from the first skiff. It wasn't Han, Chewbacca, or even Lando. It was Boba Fett. His jetpack had suddenly gone off, and he was spiraling out of control. The Mandalorian smacked into the side of the sail barge facing the skirmish, and he began to tumble into the Sarlacc pit.

Time slowed down for the Doctor as he took in the sight of the helpless Boba Fett. He remembered the anger on the little boy's face when he stood up to his father's killer, the Doctor, for the first time during the Clone War. The Doctor felt awful for Fett. After all, he had caused the bounty hunter to feel that anger. And now, he would suffer a fate even worse than his father's. The Doctor thought that Boba Fett deserved better. He was a good, moral, and righteous man on the inside. The Doctor could feel it. Boba Fett didn't deserve to suffer in the belly of the Sarlacc.

In an instant, the Doctor reached out his hand and grabbed Boba Fett with the Force and pulled him up to the second skiff, setting the bounty hunter down right at his feet.

Boba looked up at the Doctor, confusion written beneath his mask.

"You...saved me?" he asked, all traces of the ruthless bounty hunter gone. "Who are you?"

The Doctor didn't answer. He merely smiled at Boba and continued fighting. Boba himself, the Doctor sensed, quickly fell unconscious.

He sensed someone choking to death inside the barge. The Doctor reached out and saw Leia choking Jabba to free herself from his bondage. He could imagine that many beings throughout the galaxy wanted to do what Leia Organa just did. The last flicker of life in the Hutt went out, and Jabba Desilijic Tiure was dead.

As soon as the Doctor felt Leia kill Jabba, he knew that she and the droids would soon need to be picked up. They had no way off the barge. The Jedi had to make one.

"Luke, Doctor, go!" called Obi-Wan. "Jennara and I can handle this!"

"Got it, Ben!" Luke called back.

"Let's go!" shouted the Doctor. "GERONIMO!" He yelled the phrase again as he and Luke jumped right onto the sail barge.

"Is that your new thing, Doctor?" asked Luke as they landed on the side of the sail barge.

"Could be," said the Doctor as he tossed a guard who had the foolish idea to stick his head out the window at the Jedi into the Sarlacc.

The two Jedi climbed up to the upper deck of the sail barge, where more guards came pouring out of the decks below. Two arcs of green light swung in all directions, deflecting laser bolt after laser bolt. The Doctor utilized Ataru, which wasn't necessarily wise unless one had mastered it completely. Good thing, then, that the Doctor had mastered Ataru completely.

The Doctor had seen the first skiff, where Han and Chewie were still trying to rescue Lando from the Sarlacc, get pounded with laser fire from a mounted turret. The Gallifreyan quickly ended the threat by slashing the shooter and freeing the skiff from any more damage.

Luke and the Doctor continued to defend themselves against the guards, who seemed to be growing more desperate as the battle went on. A few of them were running away from the Jedi in fear of being killed. One of them shot Luke in his prosthetic hand, and the Doctor could see wires and metal protruding from the synthetic skin. It reminded him eerily of Anakin Skywalker. At any rate, Luke cut down the guard who had shot him, and that was when Leia came up from belowdeck along with the droids. The Doctor noticed the massive gun on the far side of the deck and got an idea.

"Leia!" he called. "Get to the gun!"

Leia followed the Doctor's instruction and looked back at him when she had done so, waiting for him to tell her what to do with it.

"Point it anywhere at the deck!" he called to her. Leia rotated the gun almost completely around and pointed the barrel at the deck.

"I'll get the droids!" shouted Luke.

"Go!" called the Doctor. "I'll get Leia!"

Luke quickly found the droids right at the edge of the deck. The Doctor watched as he picked up R2 and 3PO with his mind and jumped high into the air, landing on the first skiff, where Jennara and Obi-Wan assisted in his descent.

The Doctor, meanwhile, sprinted over to Leia and hit the firing mechanism on the massive gun. It fired several times, and the entire sail barge was soon on fire. The Doctor gripped a rope tied to the end of one of the sails and brought Leia to him.

"Geronimo," he said to Leia as though it were a private joke, then swung on the rope and landed semi-gracefully onto the first skiff. There stood Han, Chewbacca, Luke, Jennara, Obi-Wan, C-3PO, R2-D2, and Lando. But someone was missing. Who was it?

"We're on our way!" said Lando with a smile as he powered up the skiff.

And then the Doctor realized who was missing.

"Wait!" he called as he reached out with the Force and plucked the unconscious Boba Fett from the second skiff. Just in time, too. The sail barge was exploding, and the Doctor just pulled Fett out of it in time as the barge erupted in a huge ball of flame, engulfing the second skiff.

"What are you doing?!" shrieked Leia as the Doctor brought Fett onto the moving skiff and revived him with a simple wave of his hand.

"Saving his life," said the Doctor.

Boba Fett quickly sprang to his feet, adopting a fighting stance against the Rebels and Jedi, but he relaxed when he saw the Doctor.

"Who are you?" he asked again. "You're clearly a Jedi, but I've never seen you before."

"I think you've seen me more times than you think," said the Doctor.

"What do you mean?" asked Boba.

The Doctor sighed. He knew he would have to reveal himself to Boba at some point. He wanted to make amends with the bounty hunter, and this was the only way he saw to do it.

"Twenty-six years ago, your progenitor and adopted father, Jango Fett, was killed in battle on Geonosis by a man called the Doctor," he recounted.

"The Doctor," said Boba, clenching his fists in anger. "I hunted that man for two decades. As I recall, you were with him as well, Miss Oswin."

Jennara nodded warily at Boba, keeping her hand on her lightsaber in case things got ugly. She then looked to the Doctor, wondering what he was getting at.

"Darth Vader told me the Doctor was dead, by his hand, about a year ago," said Boba. "My only regret now is that I didn't kill him myself. But what does this have to do with you?"

"I think that Darth Vader wasn't quite telling you the whole truth," said the Doctor.

"Stop speaking in riddles, Jedi," commanded Boba. "Who are you?"

"It's true that Vader did kill the Doctor," said the Doctor. "But it's also true that the Doctor has a special ability to change his appearance whenever he is mortally wounded. The Doctor you knew was mortally wounded, and he changed into...well, me."

"So you're..." Boba trailed off, putting a hand to his forehead in confusion.

"Yeah," said the Doctor. "I'm the Doctor."

Boba looked at the Doctor, confusion and anger written beneath his mask.

"I know this is weird for you," said the Doctor, "but I ca-"

The Doctor's sentence was cut off by Boba Fett when he punched the Doctor right in the jaw. The Jedi helped him up, and Chewbacca, Lando, and Han all drew blasters as Boba spoke again.

"Stop lying to me!" he roared. "The Doctor is dead! Vader told me himself!"

"Vader lied to you," said Jennara.

"How is that possible?" asked Boba in frustration.

"I'm a Gallifreyan, Boba," said the Doctor. "Surely you've heard the stories."

"I don't believe that rubbish about regeneration," said Boba angrily. "You can't come back from the dead."

"But you can, my friend, if you know who to talk to," said Obi-Wan wisely.

"Regeneration is real, Boba," said the Doctor. "I really am the Doctor."

"I don't believe you," said Boba, though it sounded as if he did.

"I didn't at first, either, Boba," said Jennara comfortingly. "I didn't want to, but here he is. The Doctor."

Boba was breathing heavily, trying very hard to contain his anger. He didn't want to believe the Doctor, the Gallifreyan could tell, so he decided to use a certain tactic he had used on Jennara.

"Boba, this won't hurt a bit," said the Doctor as he approached the bounty hunter. "Would you mind taking off your helmet?"

Boba reluctantly did so, and the Doctor grabbed his shoulders, smiling at the man before him.

"Okay," said the Doctor. "General background."

The Doctor then proceeded to slam his forehead into the forehead of Boba Fett, transferring memories of each of his eleven faces into Boba's head. Both men cried out in pain.

"You said it wouldn't hurt!" shouted Boba.

"I lied!" the Doctor shouted back.

"You've had eleven faces?" asked Boba in surprise.

"Yup," said the Doctor. "And hopefully, it'll stay that way for a while," he added with a moment's glance at Jennara. He didn't know how his next incarnation would feel about her.

"Doctor," said Boba, "why did you save me?"

"Because you deserve better, Boba," said the Doctor. "I saw you tumbling down into that Sarlacc, and I knew that you wouldn't suffer the same fate as your father. You deserve to live a full life."

"But I tried to kill you for years," said Boba. "Why help the man who has plotted your death?"

"Because it's the right thing to do," said the Doctor simply. "Helping people, that is."

Boba sat down, confused. Han, Chewbacca, Leia, Lando, Luke, R2, and even 3PO were stunned into silence. The Doctor couldn't even sense them moving.

"Vader lied," said Boba. "He said the man who killed my father is dead. But you're not."

"Well, technically, the man who killed your father is dead, sort of," said the Doctor. "It's all very wibbly-wobbly."

"I still don't understand," said Boba. "Why did you save me?"

"Because I wanted to apologize to you," said the Doctor, sitting down next to the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy. "Your father's death has weighed on me for the last twenty-six years. The guilt I feel for causing your pain is probably nothing compared to the pain you felt that day, but I wanted to make it up to you anyway. What better way than to save your life?"

"You could have just let me die," said Boba.

"Ah, yes, but I didn't," said the Doctor. "Because I understand what you're going through. I've felt the pain of loss myself, several times, actually. We've both felt that pain. I couldn't let you suffer and die in that Sarlacc while I lived on. Tortured souls gotta stick together, right?"

Boba nodded, but said nothing.

"I suppose you want to get back to our ship, then?" asked the Doctor, to which Boba nodded again. "Alright, mate. Take us to _Slave I_."

Lando, still shocked, nodded his head and steered the skiff to where he knew Boba Fett had landed his ship.

"You're letting him go?" asked Han quietly. "Do you know how much bad stuff he's done?"

"He needs to be brought to justice," hissed Leia.

"He's hurt all of us in one way or another," implored Chewbacca.

"Everyone deserves a chance," whispered the Doctor, remembering Zam the assassin. "Even people like him, who do bad things for money. We'll let him find his own path."

"You know that I can hear you, right?" asked Boba.

Han, Chewbacca, and Leia all glared pointedly at Boba, but the Doctor smiled at him.

"Then you know that we're going to let you go instead of capturing you for the Rebels," said the Doctor.

"Thanks," said Boba.

"How do we know he won't just go crawling back to Vader?" asked Han challengingly.

"Vader lied to me about something concerning my father," said Boba, standing up and glaring at Han. "He's not worthy of my respect, Solo."

"So, you won't work for the Empire anymore?" asked Luke.

"I don't think so," said Boba.

"Come work for the Rebels, then," suggested Jennara. "We could use you."

"I don't think they'll take to me too well, especially after the fiasco on Bespin," answered Boba.

"Yeah, we all remember that," said Lando from the pilot's deck, glaring at Boba.

"Might I ask, Mr. Fett, where you are going?" asked C-3PO.

"Like the Doctor said, I'm finding my own path," said Boba.

And that will lead you where exactly?" asked Leia.

"Nowhere near the Doctor," answered Boba with a chuckle. "You saved me, Doctor. Even when you didn't have to, even after I tried to kill you, you still found it in your heart-"

"Hearts," corrected the Doctor. "Plural."

"Hearts-to save me from a fate worse than death," said Boba. "So, if I hear about the Doctor ransacking some Imperial outpost and they're calling me in for help, I might just have to ignore it."

"Well done, mate," said the Doctor, patting Boba on the shoulder.

R2 beeped and whistled, saying that he could see Boba Fett's ship in the distance.

Lando steered the skiff toward _Slave I_ , and Boba Fett jumped off the skiff and walked up the boarding ramp. He turned back to look at the Doctor and nodded. The Doctor nodded back. He knew that he and Boba would never be friends, but he also knew that the Mandalorian held a respect in his heart for his savior, the Doctor.

"We'll be holding you to it, you know," said Leia warningly. "We have powerful friends."

"I know," said Boba.

"She means it, Fett," growled Han. "No meddling where the Doctor is concerned."

"Doctor, Solo?" asked Boba sarcastically. "Doctor who?"

And the Doctor smiled as Boba Fett entered his ship and lifted off from Tatooine.

* * *

 **Okay, so that moment where the Doctor saves Boba Fett? Yeah, I literally had that planned since, like, day one. And now, to finally see it on the page, it's pretty surreal! I like it!**

 **So, that was Chapter 2 of Episode VI! What did you guys think? Leave your thoughts in a review! I do love reading them! They're so much fun!**

 **Anyway, no news to report about Star Wars or Doctor Who, really. Not that I'm aware of, anyway.**

 **Seriously, though, I can't wait to see Episode VII and Series 9! It's gonna be awesome!**

 **Next Friday: The Doctor honors his promise to Luke and explains to him the truth of the Skywalker legacy.**

 **And that about does it for this author's note. Until the next chapter, my friends!**


	4. An Overdue Explanation

Chapter Three: An Overdue Explanation

After Boba Fett departed Tatooine, the Jedi accompanied their Rebel friends back to the _Millenium Falcon_ , which was patiently waiting for her captain to come home.

"Hey, baby," said Han, stroking the ship's outer hull. "How you doing? Did you miss me?"

"Come on," said Lando. "It won't be long before people figure out what's happened to Jabba, and then we'll be in real trouble."

The Rebels clambered aboard the _Millenium Falcon_ and strapped themselves in as Lando and Chewbacca took to the cockpit. Han would have taken the cockpit, but his eyesight, while better, was still not up to the par required to fly a ship through space.

Leia had told Lando that they were flying to Sullust, where the Rebel fleet had decided to convene for one final assault on the Empire. The Empire had begun plans on a new Death Star, as the Doctor had heard before leaving for Tatooine, and the Doctor sensed that Darth Sidious would be closely tied to the project. This was the Jedi's chance to strike at the Sith and end their reign of terror forever. The Doctor could tell that Luke was ready for the task.

The Doctor knew that Luke would want an explanation about Darth Vader now that they had Han back, but Luke didn't pester the Gallifreyan about it. He had certainly learned patience in the last year, probably due to waiting for Han to be rescued. All through the journey to Sullust, the Jedi and Rebels stayed quiet, though Leia was certainly happy to see Han again. There was no mistaking the jubilation she felt whenever she looked at the man, and she didn't try to hide it at all. In fact, the _Falcon_ had barely gone into hyperspace when the Doctor heard the distinct noise of two people kissing. He looked toward the noise and found Han and Leia making that same noise.

 _About time, don't you think?_ asked Jennara in his thoughts.

 _Long overdue,_ thought the Doctor.

 _Speaking of overdue..._ she thought as Luke joined her, the Doctor, and Obi-Wan. _When are you going to explain to him?_

 _When he asks for it,_ thought the Doctor.

Satisfied with the Doctor's answer, Jennara sat back in her seat in the _Millenium Falcon_ 's main hold. C-3PO and R2-D2 were deactivated and recharging via the _Millenium Falcon_ 's main battery. The Jedi were sitting silently together, and Jennara and the Doctor were especially close, so close that the Doctor could faintly detect the soothing aroma of Jennara's long brown hair.

Meanwhile, Han and Leia were still locked in their battle of lips and tongues. Right now, it was an even draw, and the Doctor was baffled at their unbroken tenacity.

"How do you two even breathe?" he muttered to himself, earning a smile from Jennara.

About an hour after the _Falcon_ entered hyperspace, Chewbacca came into the main hold. He looked at Han and Leia for a moment, seemingly unfazed by the ongoing kissing.

"About time," said Chewbacca in his native Shyriiwook.

"That's what I said!" cried Jennara in Basic.

"In any case, we're about to arrive in the Sullust system," said Chewbacca, and he pointed to Han and Leia. "When they stop, would you mind-"

"We heard you, Chewie," said Han, who had broken from Leia for a moment before returning to her, and the kissing ensued once more.

"Right," said Chewbacca, who sounded slightly amused as he returned to the cockpit.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, the Doctor felt the ship exit hyperspace. A minute after that, he felt the ship dock in a larger craft. He presumed that the ship was _Home One_ , the flagship of the Rebel Fleet, but he wasn't entirely sure.

Together, the Jedi, Rebels, and droids, who had been reactivated after they landed in the ship, stepped out onto a hangar bay. The Doctor recognized it immediately as the main hangar bay of _Home One_ , a modified Mon Calamari cruiser belonging to Gial Ackbar, a former slave to the Empire who was broken free of captivity and went on to become an admiral in the Alliance ranks.

And it was then that the Doctor saw someone he was sure he would never see again. A face long gone to him, but still memorable. Someone who had served under him during the Clone War. The face was still fresh in his memory; he had seen it earlier that day, although it was on a completely different man.

The Doctor separated from the group and strode up to the man, who had just finished a conversation with some officers. It had appeared that the man was giving orders, which made sense to the Doctor, considering his position in the Clone War. He smiled confidently as he approached the man, who, the Doctor thought, might not recognize him.

He would be glad to be proven wrong.

"I never forget a face, especially not yours," said the Doctor, "Fordo."

"How do you know I'm Fordo?" he asked. "How do you know I'm not some other clone of Jango Fett? We all share his face."

"I know you, Fordo," said the Doctor. "Even though you share the same face as your clone brothers, each clone is unique in the Force. You, Fordo, have the stance of an ARC trooper, but not any old ARC. An ARC captain. Even after all these years, you still have that stance."

"They drill it into your psyche so it becomes nature," said Fordo, smiling. "You know, Thire once told me about the Doctor saying that each clone was unique in the Force. You almost used the Doctor's exact words."

"What can I say?" said the Doctor. "I love to repeat myself."

"It's good to see you again, Doctor," said Fordo knowingly.

"Oh, come here, you big lunk," said the Doctor, pulling Fordo into a bear hug that Fordo returned, having finally met his general again after all these years.

"You look a bit different," said Fordo as the two brothers-in-war parted.

"I should think so," said the Doctor subconsciously stroking his chin.

"What happened?" asked Fordo.

"I died," the Doctor stated bluntly. "Well, sort of. My last body was mortally wounded, and I had to regenerate to keep myself alive."

"When was that?" asked Fordo.

"About four years ago, right before the battle with the Death Star," explained the Doctor. "But never mind that, Fordo. Look at you, rebelling. What's with that? I thought you were all rules and order. None of this rebellion stuff."

"So did I," said Fordo as Jennara, Obi-Wan, Luke, Han, Leia, Lando, Chewbacca, and the droids joined them.

"Who's this?" asked Luke.

"This is Alpha-77, also known as Fordo," said the Doctor, indicating the ARC captain. "He served as my captain during the Clone War."

"Good to see you in good health, Captain," said Obi-Wan, who had also served with Fordo on Muunilinst.

"Thank you, General Kenobi," said Fordo. "But it's General Fordo now, not Captain."

"Forgive me," said Obi-Wan lightheartedly.

"Nothing to forgive, sir," said Fordo, who still clearly bore loyalty to the Jedi if the Doctor could glean anything from the way he addressed them.

"So, you're part of the Rebellion now?" observed Jennara.

"Yes, ma'am," said Fordo. "I used to be a captain in the Empire for a long time."

"What made you quit the business?" asked Han, who also had experience in leaving the service of the Empire.

"Clone prejudice was running rampant in the ranks of the Empire," said Fordo. "Clones were being executed by Imperial officers daily for no other reason than they looked at them funny. Apparently the officer I was serving under had a list of clones he wanted to get rid of."

"That's awful," said Leia sympathetically.

"I agree, ma'am," said Fordo. "Anyway, it turned out that I was next up on the list. I would avoid the officer whenever I could, and when I did have to interact with him, I was always in a group of my brothers, who would avenge me, certainly. I grew paranoid, always watching my back to see if he would be coming my way with a blaster in hand.

"My escape formulated itself in unlikely circumstances. I was on a routine scouting mission when my fighter was shot down by hiding Rebel forces. I barely managed to survive, and the Rebels rescued me and nursed me back to health. After that, they kept me around for a few weeks until the Empire attacked. Technically, I was a prisoner of war, but they let me out of my cell a lot. Sure, they interrogated me a few times for information, but I told them I didn't know anything and they believed me."

"Did you know anything?" asked Lando.

"No, the higher-ups in Imperial command didn't see fit to tell us clones anything," said Fordo. "They just thought we would follow orders without question."

"And ARC troopers don't do that," said the Doctor. "The Advanced Recon Commandos were specifically engineered to be more free-thinking than the rest of the entire Republic Army."

"Exactly," said Fordo. "Anyway, I grew to like the Rebels. They were kind to me, even though I was their prisoner. They functioned like a tight-knit family. Sure, there were a few who didn't like me because I was affiliated with the Empire, but for the most part, they all seemed to care about me as a human being. The same can't be said for the Empire, that's for sure."

"That's the difference between us and them," said Leia. "We care about freedom for everyone, not just those who aren't part of the Empire."

"When the Rebel cell holding me was attacked, I decided to fight with the Rebels. The stormtroopers thought I was just some other clone, not knowing that I was a captain, so they just shot at me like all the others. I managed to escape with what remained of the Rebel forces, and I was officially made a general about three months ago."

"That's brilliant!" said the Doctor with a smile. "How long have you been a Rebel?"

"About a year," said Fordo. "I started out as a captain, like in the Republic and the Empire, but I was quickly moved up the ranks when I showed some people in High Command that I could make an almost flawless battle plan. They promoted me to General, and I've been loving it."

"Fantastic!" cried the Doctor.

"Agreed, sir," said Fordo. "In fact, I actually have to go to the briefing room now to plan our assault on the Empire. You've heard about their new weapon, I assume, sir?"

"Oh, yes," said the Doctor, frowning.

"New weapon?" asked Han confusedly. "What's he talking about?"

"I'll explain later, Han," said Leia comfortingly. "Right now, we've got to get you rehabilitated. Come on."

Fordo, Han, Leia, Lando, Chewbacca, and the droids then left the Jedi in the hangar bay. The Doctor, Jennara, and Obi-Wan looked at each other, then at Luke, knowing what was coming.

"Can we...talk?" asked Luke carefully.

"Of course," said the Doctor, smiling at Luke to try and make him feel comfortable with the situation at hand.

"I need confirmation," said Luke. "Is Darth Vader my father?"

The Doctor became sad for a moment as he remembered everything Darth Vader had done to the Jedi.

"Yes," he said simply. "He is your father."

"Why didn't any of you tell me the truth?" asked Luke. "You told me Vader betrayed my father and murdered him."

"Your father was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force," explained Obi-Wan. "The moment he gave in to the Dark Side's temptations, he ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became Darth Vader. The good man in your father was destroyed."

The Doctor could sense that Luke didn't believe that last remark made by Obi-Wan, and the Doctor didn't quite believe it, either. If Vader didn't have at least some good in him, what had the Doctor sensed on Bespin?

"So, what the three of us told you was true, from a certain perspective," finished Obi-Wan.

"A certain perspective?" asked Luke, confused.

"Luke, you will probably find out soon that a lot of the truths we cling to depend on our point of view," said the Doctor. "For instance, my name. The Doctor isn't actually my real name, but from my perspective, it is my real name because I chose it for myself."

"Don't mistake us, Luke," said Jennara. "Your father was a hero. He was completely untouchable in the Clone War. He and Master Kenobi made a truly unstoppable team."

"It was I who taught him," said Obi-Wan. "When the Doctor and I first met your father, he was only nine years old, yet already an excellent pilot."

"But what really amazed us was how strongly the Force flowed within him," said the Doctor. "I have never seen anyone more powerful in the Force, not even myself."

"My Jedi Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, was going to take it upon himself to train your father," said Obi-Wan. "Unfortunately, he was killed in combat, so the task was left to me. I thought I would be able to instruct him just as well as Qui-Gon or the Doctor could instruct. Clearly, I was wrong."

"I believe that there's still good in him," said Luke. "Do you not agree?"

"I'd like to believe it, but he's more machine now than man," said Obi-Wan sadly. "He is twisted and evil, and he must be destroyed."

"I can't do it, Ben," said Luke. "I just can't."

"It is your destiny, Luke," said Obi-Wan. "You must face Darth Vader again."

"I can't, Ben," said Luke adamantly. "Send me after Darth Sidious, if you have to, but I can't kill my own father."

"You can't possibly defeat Sidious," said Jennara. "Even the Doctor couldn't do it."

"She's right," said the Doctor. "Sidious is too difficult an opponent for you."

"I won't kill my father," said Luke.

"Then the Sith have won," said Obi-Wan. "You were our only hope."

"That's not true," said the Doctor. "If we're going to stop lying to you, Luke, we might as well stop lying to you about everything. There is another Skywalker besides you and your father."

"Another?" asked Luke, clearly confused.

"Your twin sister," said Jennara.

"What are you talking about?" asked Luke. "I don't have a sister."

"So you think," said Obi-Wan with a small smile. "To protect you both from the Sith, the Doctor, your sister's adopted father, and I decided to hide you from your father when you were born."

"Darth Sidious knew, just as we did, that if Anakin Skywalker were to have any offspring whatsoever, they would be a threat to him," said the Doctor. "Which is why your sister remains anonymous to him."

Luke lowered his head in thought, then a look of realization materialized as Luke brought his head up sharply.

"Leia!" he gasped in realization. "Leia's my sister!"

"Your insight serves you well," said Obi-Wan.

"Penny in the air," Jennara muttered to the Doctor with a smirk.

"By the Force, I kissed my sister!" cried out Luke with a look of disgust and shock on his face.

"Penny drops," muttered Jennara, causing the Doctor to smile himself.

"Luke, be careful of the brotherly feelings you have for Leia," warned Obi-Wan. "They do you well, but they could be made to serve the Dark Side."

"I will be," said Luke, and he left the three Jedi in the hangar bay. The Doctor noticed that he had taken to the explanation very well. He also seemed adamant that Darth Vader could be turned back to the light. The Doctor had to admit that he agreed with Luke on this one.

There was only one question racking the Doctor's brain. Would Vader be willing to turn back?

* * *

 **FORDO'S BAAAAAACK! YAAAAAAAAYY! I've always thought Fordo was awesome, and I've also always thought that he deserved more time on screen than just the animated Clone Wars series (although that was excellent and written down partially in a previous volume of SW(SD) *shameless plug is shameless*) So, here he is, in all his ARC Captain glory! Although, he's a general now.**

 **Also, I apologize for not getting this in on Friday. I had a huge night last night, and I unfortunately didn't really have time to post a chapter. Still, better late than never. This one is jam-packed with exposition and references and stuff. Hope you enjoyed it!**

 **I really wanted to include that part near the end when Luke is like "Oh my God, I kissed my sister." I've always thought that he took that news disturbingly well in the film. I mean, I guess you could theoretically say that he had always known that she was his sister, but my God, man, you KISSED her! React a bit more to that! Ah well. It also serves as a nice reference to the Ponds, whom I love.**

 **So what did you think of this chapter? Leave your thoughts in a review! They are always appreciated!**

 **Next Friday (I promise it's Friday this time): The Rebels plan their endgame for the Galactic Civil War.**

 **And that about does it for this author's note. Until the next chapter, my friends!**


	5. Planning the Final Assault

Chapter Four: Planning the Final Assault

For his efforts in the rescue of Han Solo, Lando Calrissian was promoted to the rank of General. Han Solo himself was also promoted to the rank of General for his valor in the line of duty while protecting Leia Organa after the Battle of Hoth. Despite his wariness about staying with the Rebels a year ago, he was now fully onboard with them, ready to fight and even die in battle alongside them. The Doctor personally congratulated both men upon their promotions.

The Doctor and Fordo reminisced about their time as part of the Muunilinst Ten often during the next few days. The Doctor learned that the two of them were the only surviving members. He was sad to hear that the rest of them had died in the line of duty.

"I suppose that was part of the reason that I became disillusioned with the Empire," Fordo had said. "They just didn't care, sir."

"You don't have to call me 'sir' anymore, Fordo," said the Doctor. "We're both generals now."

"Sorry, sir," said Fordo sheepishly. "I mean, Doctor. Force of habit."

"Of course," said the Doctor understandingly, and they both laughed as the Doctor told Fordo the story of the terentatek he had fought on Kashyyyk.

A few days after the Doctor and his companions had arrived on _Home One_ , the time came for the official briefing for the attack on the new Death Star. The Doctor and Jennara sat together near the center of the room, which contained a large holopad that could be viewed from all directions. Around them sat Han, Leia, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, Obi-Wan, Luke, and Lando. Behind the holopad stood Mon Mothma, the leader of the Rebel Alliance, Admiral Gial Ackbar, commanding officer of _Home One_ , and Fordo. Surrounding the three of them were several officers of _Home One_ , all of whom looked a bit nervous. Perhaps they were daunted at the prospect of taking on another Death Star. The Doctor couldn't blame them. The force that took down the first Death Star, as the Doctor remembered, had been nearly eradicated by Imperial forces.

A bell chimed, and the Rebels quieted down as Mon Mothma, Ackbar, and Fordo began their briefing.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Emperor Palpatine has made a very critical error," began Mon Mothma. "The time for our attack has come."

As she spoke, the holopad's centerpiece rose into the air, and a hologram of a red, incomplete Death Star appeared, orbiting a larger celestial body that the Doctor quickly recognized as the Forest Moon of Endor, a lush, jungle moon, similar to Kashyyyk. Endor orbited a gas giant planet of the same name, as the Doctor recalled.

"Our network of Bothan spies has brought us very valuable data," said Mon Mothma. "It pinpoints the exact location of the new Death Star, so we know where to go to find it. We also know that the weapons systems on this Death Star, among other systems, are not yet operational. The Imperial Fleet is spread out across the galaxy in a vain effort to engage us. Only a few ships are guarding the new Death Star, which means that it is relatively unprotected and vulnerable to attack. But most important of all, ladies and gentlemen, is this piece of news the Bothans gave us. We've learned that Palpatine himself is personally overseeing the final stages of the construction."

There was a muttering in the crowd of Rebels as they took in the information that not only would they be attacking a Death Star, but they would also be attacking the Emperor himself.

"If ever there were a time to attack, it'd be now," Jennara murmured to the Doctor.

"Oh, yes," said the Doctor. "Huge opportunity for the Rebels. Too big to pass up."

"What do you think Luke will do?" asked Jennara. "We all know that Vader is probably somewhere near that battle station, if he isn't standing with his Master as we speak."

"I don't know," said the Doctor with a sideways glance at Luke. "And that's what worries me."

"Many Bothans died to bring us this information," said Mon Mothma once the muttering died down. Mon Mothma grew very sad as she said this. Her compassion for life was certainly something the Doctor respected, if not revered.

"Admiral Ackbar," she said, passing the briefing off to Ackbar, who took center stage.

"You can see here the Death Star orbiting its host, the Forest Moon of Endor," said Ackbar. "Now, the weapons systems, as Mon Mothma pointed out, are not yet operational. The Death Star compensates for this by having a strong defense mechanism. It is surrounded by a shield which is generated from the moon itself. This shield must be deactivated if we are to have any chance of attacking and destroying this Death Star.

"Once the shield is down, our cruisers will create a perimeter around the battle station. A team of fighters will then fly into the Death Star and knock out the main reactor. Now, General Calrissian has volunteered to lead the fighter attack."

The Rebels all looked at Lando, who nodded at Ackbar, ready to accept his duty.

"Good luck," said Han.

"Thanks, old buddy," said Lando with a smile.

"General Fordo will now explain the plan to take down the generator," said Ackbar, and Fordo stepped forward, his body perfectly straight, just like the Doctor remembered him during briefings as an ARC captain during the Clone War.

"Earlier in the month, a squad of elite soldiers managed to steal a small Imperial shuttle with the call-sign _Tydirium_ ," said Fordo. "We've disguised it as a cargo shuttle taking parts as well as a technical crew to the troops stationed on the moon. The Empire will most likely ask for a code that will give you clearance to land. Now, I haven't seen any of the new codes, if any exist, but I can provide an older code that will still probably check out. If all goes well, a strike team will land on the moon and deactivate the shield generator."

"Wonder who they got for that one," muttered Jennara.

The Doctor looked an Han Solo knowingly as Fordo continued.

"General Solo," he said, looking right at Han, "is your strike team assembled?"

Leia looked at Han, clearly shocked. He obviously hadn't told her about it.

"My team is ready, but I don't have a command crew for the shuttle," said Han.

"Han, you've got me," said Chewbacca.

"It's gonna be pretty rough, pal," said Han. "I didn't really want to speak for you or anything."

"You've got me," said Chewbacca again.

"That's one, General Fordo," said Han.

"Count me in," said Leia.

"You've got me, General," said the Doctor.

"And me," said Jennara excitedly.

"I'm with you, too," said Luke.

"Looks like we've got a team," said Han.

"Excellent," said Fordo. "I will also be joining you."

"Great. Glad to have you onboard," said Han as Mon Mothma called for an end to the briefing.

The Rebels stood up, and the shuttle team, consisting of the Doctor, Jennara, Luke, Fordo, Han, Leia, and Chewbacca, clumped together.

"You guys ready?" asked Han.

"We'll be alright," said Jennara. "We've got three Jedi, an ARC trooper, a Wookiee, and two of the best gunslingers this side of the galaxy."

"If you say so," said Han, and he led the team to the hangar bay to board the shuttle and begin their final assault.

It was soon decided that Obi-Wan Kenobi would stay on _Home One_ in order to help direct the fighters in the space battle. It was also decided that C-3PO and R2-D2 would be joining the strike team. R2 could hack into the doors of the shield generator, which would almost certainly be locked, and 3PO could act as interpreter for any native species they might find there.

The Doctor expected to possibly find Ewoks, but he wasn't sure because the Ewoks were a bit secretive. The Ewoks didn't encounter many beings unless those beings were trapped by the Ewoks. The Doctor had encountered the Ewoks in his fourth life, and he had given them several little bags of jelly babies, a particularly sweet Gallifreyan candy, in exchange for his freedom from their captivity. The Ewoks had appreciated the jelly babies, and he was set free. If he remembered correctly, the Ewoks had sung a few songs about the "Man With the Long Scarf."

The shuttle was cramped with men and women comprising the Endor strike team. Nearly twenty Rebels were packed into either the cockpit or the cargo area. They were just waiting on Han, who would pilot the shuttle with Chewbacca to Endor.

"You ready?" asked Jennara with a smile that made the Doctor's hearts warm.

"Always," said the Doctor, placing a hand in front of Jennara for her to take. She did so with a smile, and the two Jedi walked into the cockpit together. In the cockpit sat Luke, Leia, Chewbacca, the droids, and Fordo. The Doctor and Jennara took their own seats, making the cramped cockpit even more cramped.

"Bit intimate, don't you think?" asked Jennara as her body was pressed against the Doctor's.

"I was expecting it to be a bit bigger on the inside," said the Doctor as he caught sight of Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was standing on the far end of the hangar bay, looking right at the shuttle.

 _Goodbye, Doctor,_ Obi-Wan thought a bit sadly to the Doctor.

 _It's not goodbye, Obi-Wan, not yet,_ thought the Doctor. _You'll see us again._

 _I have my doubts,_ thought Obi-Wan.

 _Trust in the Force,_ thought the Doctor. _We will see you again._

 _Then I will see you soon, Doctor,_ nodded Obi-Wan.

 _Until next time, Master Obi-Wan Kenobi,_ thought the Doctor.

 _One more thing, Doctor, before you go._

 _Anything._

 _Keep Luke safe. He is like a son to me._

The Doctor nodded as he thought, _He'll be safe with me._

At that moment, Han walked into the cockpit and sat down at the pilot's chair.

"She warmed up yet?" he asked.

"Yeah, she's just about ready," said Luke, who had been prepping the shuttle's systems for the last few minutes.

"Han, I don't particularly care for the lack of space in these shuttles," complained Chewbacca.

"Well, buddy, I don't think the Empire had Wookiees in mind when they designed these rust buckets," countered Han. The old smuggler then looked out to the _Millenium Falcon_ sadly. He was going into battle, but not with his beloved ship. The Doctor understood how it felt.

"You awake in there, Han?" asked Leia.

Han looked at her with a start, then said, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just got a funny feeling, that's all."

"What's wrong?" asked Fordo.

"I don't know," said Han. "I just get the feeling that I won't see her ever again."

"The _Falcon_ will be okay, Han," said Chewbacca comfortingly.

"Chewbacca's right," said the Doctor. "We'll see them all again. Don't worry."

"Let's move, General," said Leia with a smile and a small kiss on Han's cheek, which made Han himself smile and get his head right back in the game.

"Alright, Chewie, let's see what this hunk of junk can do," he called.

"You got it!" called Chewbacca as both pilot and copilot turned on the shuttle's engines.

The Doctor felt the familiar feeling of liftoff as the shuttle rose from the ground. His view changed from the _Millenium Falcon_ in the forefront and Obi-Wan still standing in the distance to the hangar bay's shield doors and the blackness of space, which was dotted with stars that twinkled in the sky. The Doctor recalled that he and Jennara had seen a lot of space during their travels together. The stars told each other many wondrous stories of the adventures of the Doctor and Jennara Oswin.

"What do you say, Jennara?" he asked her quietly. "Shall we write another story for the stars?"

"Of course, Doctor," said Jennara equally as quietly, resting her head on the Doctor's shoulder.

Han and Chewbacca put in the coordinates for the hyperdrive computer. The stars grew immensely in length, and soon the Doctor could see the beginnings of the hyperspace vortex. The shuttle entered, and the Doctor breathed a sigh of relief. They were on their way to Endor.

And the Doctor sensed that the time for the fruition of the Force's ultimate plan would soon be upon the galaxy. Very soon.

* * *

 **Bit of a short one, but important nonetheless, as it sets the stage for the later parts of the story.**

 **I wanted to give the Doctor and Fordo time to catch up. They haven't seen each other since the end of the Clone War over twenty years ago. They'll have stories to tell each other of what happened to them after the war's end and the Great Jedi Purge and stuff like that.**

 **So, what did you think of this chapter? Leave your thoughts in a review! I always appreciate your feedback!**

 **Did I mention before that Osgood is back for Series 9 of Doctor Who? I honestly can't remember, and I don't feel like going back through earlier author's notes to check, so I'm just going to talk about it here. I'm not so sure how I feel about it. I mean, don't get me wrong. I love Osgood. I think she's a cool character. Definitely someone I'd want as a companion in the future. There's just one problem. She's kind of dead. The Master (or Mistress, in this case) sort of literally disintegrated her in front of the Doctor's eyes.**

 **Then again, that might be an interesting plot device for her in whatever episode(s) she appears in. River Song-esque, in a way, in that he knows how she will die but (for obvious reasons) doesn't tell her, just like he did River. Though, I don't really expect a convoluted marriage plot in the Series 9 finale for Twelve and Osgood, especially considering that I don't think Peter Capaldi would go for that. Like, at all.**

 **Ah, what do I know? I'm just a guy on a computer writing Star Wars/Doctor Who fanfiction. Meh.**

 **Next Friday: The Doctor and his band of Rebel soldiers arrive on the final battleground of the Galactic Civil War.**

 **And that about does it for this author's note. Until the next chapter, my friends!**


	6. The Forest Moon of Endor

Chapter Five: The Forest Moon of Endor

The stolen Imperial shuttle arrived at its destination about two hours after it left the Sullust system. The Doctor could see out of the cockpit window the new Death Star, as well as the moon itself, a Star Destroyer, and the Super Star Destroyer they had encountered during their escape from Bespin. As they approached the Super Star Destroyer, the Doctor could sense fear, trepidation, and nervousness emanating in waves from nearly everyone inside the shuttle, with the exception of the Doctor, Jennara, and Fordo.

"I don't want to get too close," said Chewbacca, explaining his cautious flying pattern.

"Good thinking, pal," said Han. "If they don't go for this, we'll have to bug out real quick."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," said the Doctor calmly.

Just then, the shuttle was hailed by the Super Star Destroyer.

"Here goes," said Han as he answered the hail.

"Shuttle, we have you on our scanners," said the officer who had hailed them. "State your identification."

"This is shuttle _Tydirium_ requesting deactivation of the deflector shield," said Han as much like an Imperial officer as he could.

After a moment, the officer replied, "Shuttle _Tydirium_ , please transmit clearance code."

"Transmission commencing," said Han, turning to Fordo as he muted the COM for a moment. "What's the code?"

"CG247B," said Fordo quickly, and Han typed in the code.

"Code sent," said Han, who had unmuted the COM only to say this.

"Now we find out if Fordo's Imperial knowledge hasn't already been outdated," said Leia gravely.

"Like he said, it'll work," said Han confidently, nodding to Fordo, who nodded back briefly before turning his attention back to the Super Star Destroyer.

"Vader is on that ship," Luke said suddenly. And all of a sudden, he felt fear pulse from Jennara, and the Doctor could hear the wheezy, mechanical breathing of Darth Vader among the heartbeats of the Imperial officers.

"Come on, Luke," said Han. "Don't get all jittery. There are a lot of command ships." Nervously, he added, "But it's probably better if you try to keep your distance, Chewie, just in case."

"Right," said Chewbacca just as nervously as Han had.

"But don't _look_ like you're trying to keep your distance," said Han.

"Well, how do I try to keep my distance and not try to keep my distance?" asked Chewbacca.

"I don't know," replied Han. "Fly casual."

For a long minute, the Doctor and the rest of the Rebel strike team sat warily in the shuttle, wondering whether or not the Super Star Destroyer would let them through. Fear grew in waves from the Rebels as they waited with bated breath for the Imperial response. C-3PO was, surprisingly, completely silent. Even the Doctor was feeling a bit nervous. If Luke knew that Vader was on that Super Star Destroyer, there was a good chance that Vader could sense Luke. If that were the case, the Doctor was fairly certain Vader could sense both him and Jennara as well.

All of a sudden, the voice of another Imperial officer spoke to them.

"Shuttle _Tydirium_ , what is your cargo and destination?" asked the new officer.

"Parts and technical crew," Han answered after just a second.

And the COM channel went silent again. For another minute, there was silence from the Imperials, but the Rebels were getting jittery, especially Luke.

"He can sense me," said Luke. "I'm endangering the mission. I shouldn't have come."

"Luke, he can sense us, too," said Jennara, trying very hard to keep the fear out of her voice.

"All three of us took a risk by being this close to Vader," said the Doctor. "We've just got to hope that they'll still let us through."

"Yeah, the Doctor's right," said Fordo. "Let's try to keep some optimism."

"Listen to the ARC," said the Doctor. "He knows what he's doing."

After another fifteen seconds, though, even Han was getting a bit jittery.

"They're not going for it, Chewie," he said gravely. "We'd better turn back."

At that moment, however, the Imperial officer came back on the COM.

"Shuttle _Tydirium_ ," he said, "deactivation of the shield will commence immediately. You will maintain present course."

The Doctor felt a collective sigh of relief echoing from the minds of every single Rebel in the shuttle.

"See?" said the Doctor. "Nothing to worry about. No problem. We should probably do what they say, though, just to keep up the illusion."

"Last time I'm taking orders from one of those guys," said Fordo.

"Amen," said Han as he and Chewbacca flew the shuttle into Endor's atmosphere.

But, even as the rest of the Rebels breathed sighs of relief, the Doctor could sense that Luke's mind was no less tense than it had been when he first felt Darth Vader.

The Rebels landed on Endor with no further intrusions from the Empire. Since Han was leading the mission, he was first out of the shuttle, followed by Fordo, the Doctor, Jennara, Luke, Leia, Chewbacca, and the twenty men and women on the strike team. All of them were in camouflage gear with the exception of the Doctor and Jennara, but the they were masking themselves in the Force. Nobody except the Rebels could see the two Jedi. The droids brought up the rear, and the Doctor could already tell that C-3PO probably didn't like it on Endor.

The strike team trekked a little way through the forest, but Han, leading the pack, suddenly stopped. With a downward wave of his hand, he signaled the Rebels to crouch down to the ground.

"Oh, I knew it was dangerous here," whined 3PO quietly.

The Doctor, Jennara, Fordo, Leia, Luke, and Chewbacca joined Han in crouching down behind a fallen log. The Doctor peered his head over the log with the rest of them and saw what they saw. There were three Imperial scout troopers, each with his own speeder bike, strolling around a small clearing in the forest, not even knowing about the Rebels who lay in wait just a few dozen yards away. The Doctor hadn't seen scout troopers for a long time, not since Kashyyyk.

"Should we go around them?" asked Leia.

"That'll take too much time," said Fordo.

"Yeah, and it'll all be for nothing if they spot us," said Jennara.

"We could try and take them out," offered Chewbacca.

"That seems to be the quickest option," said Han. "Alright, Fordo, Chewie and I will handle this. Stay here."

"Quietly," warned the Doctor. "There could be more of them."

"Don't you worry about a thing, Doctor," said Han confidently. "It's me."

With a smirk, Han carefully crept toward the scout troopers. Fordo and Chewbacca joined him, and together, they snuck around the massive Endorian tree trunks to get to the scout troopers. The Doctor saw Han motion to Chewbacca from behind a tree to catch one of the troopers, while Fordo and Han carefully moved toward the pair who had separated from the trooper Chewbacca was going after. Just a few seconds more and all three troopers would be taken out.

The Doctor heard a twig snap. A look of fear on Han's face told the Doctor that it was he who stepped on the twig. The scout troopers heard it, too, obviously, and they attacked. Fordo was quick enough to counter, locked in a struggle with the scout trooper, while Han was knocked into a tree by his trooper.

"Go for help!" the trooper struggling against Fordo. The third trooper nodded quickly and sprinted to his speeder bike.

"Oh, brilliant," said Jennara sarcastically. "Guess we've gotta swoop in and save the day again."

"Wouldn't be the first time," said the Doctor as he, Jennara, Luke, and Leia ran to the clearing to assist Fordo, Han, and Chewbacca.

Chewbacca did not need much help. Even though the third scout trooper managed to get on his bike and start to get away, Chewbacca used his bowcaster to shoot the speeder bike at its engines, blowing up the speeder and killing the trooper instantly. The Doctor shuddered at the sight, reminded vividly of Stass Allie.

"Look!" called Leia. "Three more!"

Just then, he saw three more scout troopers on speeder bikes dashing away from the clearing, and he cursed himself.

"Why am I always right?" he cried aloud.

"Leia, wait!" shouted Luke as Leia mounted a speeder bike. Luke barely managed to get on in time, and they were speeding off to catch the Imperials, who were most likely headed to their command center to warn the moon of the Rebel presence. Their cover would be blown completely if those scout troopers managed to get back to their base.

The Doctor noticed the second speeder bike and smiled wickedly at Jennara.

"There's still one bike left," said the Doctor.

"Right you are, Doctor," said Jennara, grinning at him as they, too, mounted a speeder bike and shot off after Luke and Leia. The Doctor took the controls while Jennara sat behind him, her arms firmly attached to the Doctor's waist. The chase was on.

The Doctor and Jennara quickly caught up with Leia and Luke, who were falling behind the scout troopers.

"At this rate, we'll never catch them!" shouted Leia.

"They might be trying to send a warning right now!" called the Doctor. "I'll jam their communications!"

"There's a trick about speeders I learned as a Padawan that can help us!" called Jennara as the Doctor blocked any and all communications from those speeder bikes. "Hit the switch on the right, then the one on the left!"

Both the Doctor and Leia, who was piloting the speeder she and Luke had taken, did as Jennara instructed, and the engines in the speeders kicked into a sort of overdrive, and the two Rebel speeders sped through the thick Endorian forest after the three Imperial speeders.

Luke and Leia caught up to one of them, and they were ramming the left side of their speeder into the right side of the scout troopers in an effort to slow him down and make him lose his buddies. Luke positioned himself to jump on the scout trooper, and jump he did, right on top of the scout trooper's speeder. The scout trooper seemed to be very surprised by what had just happened, so surprised that he couldn't think of a counter to Luke throwing him off his speeder and into a tree, the force of the impact killing him instantly.

And then there were two.

The Doctor, Jennara, Luke, and Leia rode through the Endor forest after the two scout troopers, avoiding trees and shrubbery while also concentrating on getting those troopers before they reached their command center. They were running out of time.

To make matters even worse, two more troopers appeared behind them, and they were now surrounded. One of the front two troopers then broke off from the main group, and Leia quickly shouted that she would handle the one who broke off from the pair.

"We'll take the new guys!" called the Doctor to Luke.

"Right!" called Luke as he sped forward and the Doctor, carrying Jennara, sped backward to come right in between the two scout troopers.

Both troopers glared at the two Jedi menacingly and pulled out their blaster pistols. Jennara reacted faster than the troopers could even blink, whipping out her lightsaber and taking the Doctor's as well, activating them, and slashing the two troopers in their arms. The troopers cried out and, in the process, lost control of their speeders. They tried to regain the control they once had, but it was too late. They had already barreled into trees, exploding along with their speeders. The Doctor turned the speeder around and came to a halt as Jennara clipped his lightsaber back to his belt.

"That was some quick thinking," said the Doctor.

"Thanks," said Jennara. "We'd better get back."

"Right," agreed the Doctor. "Onward!"

The Doctor retraced the path they took, and the two Jedi soon arrived back at the clearing where Han, Fordo, Chewbacca, the droids, and the rest of the Rebels were waiting for them. The two troopers Han and Fordo had fought were gone, and the Doctor guessed that the Rebels had dumped their bodies somewhere to avoid the suspicion of the Imperials on Endor.

"Doctor! Jennara!" called Han as the Doctor stopped the speeder right in front of him. The two Jedi got off their speeder, and the Doctor noticed that Han was looking around them and into the forest.

"Where are the others?" he asked.

"We got separated," said Jennara. "We don't know where they are."

"I'm going to go looking for them," said Han.

R2 then beeped and whistled quite loudly, and C-3PO translated.

"R2 says that he has someone on his scanner," said the golden protocol droid. "Whoever it is is a hundred meters away and coming toward us."

"Could be Luke," said the Doctor.

"Could be another scout," said Han pessimistically. "Get ready."

The Rebels prepared themselves for another battle, blasters and lightsabers at the ready. For a few minutes, they waited, expecting another Imperial scout to come looking for the missing troopers. The Doctor himself didn't know what to expect. He could sense someone coming toward them, but he could sense something else. A sense of urgency that was unparalleled, and it had to do with Darth Vader. He had only sensed that feeling of urgency in-

"Luke!" the Doctor shouted out as Luke Skywalker reappeared, running into the clearing where the Rebels had gathered, out of breath, but otherwise unharmed.

"How good it is to see you again!" cried Chewbacca as he ran to hug the Jedi.

"Where's Leia?" asked Han.

"She didn't find you guys?" Luke asked the Doctor and Jennara.

"We thought she might have found you," said the Doctor, already feeling panic from Han.

"She didn't," said Luke. "We'd better go look for her."

"Right," said Han, turning to a Rebel officer. "Take the team ahead to the rendezvous point. We'll meet you there at oh-three-hundred. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," said the officer.

"Good," said Han. "Go."

"Yes, sir," the officer said again. "Alright, let's go."

"Let's follow his advice," said Fordo. "Come on."

"R2, we might need your scanners," said Luke. "You can come along."

So the Doctor, Jennara, Luke, Han, Fordo, Chewbacca, and the droids separated from the twenty men and women on the Rebel strike team in search of Leia.

They combed the forest for nearly an hour trying to find Leia. The Doctor, Jennara, and Luke retraced their steps in the chase and found roughly where Leia had separated from them. They followed the path, Luke wandering off, saying he saw something.

"Don't wander too far off," warned the Doctor, knowing the consequences of wandering off full-well.

"I won't," said Luke absent-mindedly as the rest of the search party continued their trek for Leia.

"Look!" called Fordo around the same time that the Doctor had seen it. It was a wrecked speeder, a foreboding sign indeed. The Doctor looked at it a bit more carefully, though, sensing it. Perhaps it wasn't foreboding at all. Or, at least, maybe not foreboding about Leia. This speeder hadn't belonged to her. She hadn't ridden it. This one was ridden by a scout trooper. The Doctor could sense the Force footprint the trooper left, and it wasn't nearly as strong as Leia's Force footprint.

"Someone definitely crashed here," said the Doctor. "But I don't think it was Leia."

"Who was it, then?" asked Han.

"I think it was one of the scout troopers we were chasing," said the Doctor.

"I think so, too," said Jennara, looking at the speeder very carefully, just as the Doctor had moments ago.

"How can you tell?" asked Fordo.

"Force footprints," said the Doctor. "The one Leia leaves is a bit stronger than this one." While that wasn't entirely true, the Doctor was certain that Leia never rode this speeder, and his testimony convinced Han.

Just then, Luke came back with a helmet in his hands.

"There's more wrecked speeders back where I just was," said Luke. "And I found this." He held up the helmet for examination. The Doctor didn't need to look at it for very long to know that Leia had definitely worn that helmet. Something had happened to her, then. the Doctor began to worry a little bit. If something had indeed happened to Leia, what was it?

"I do hope she's alright," said C-3PO, and R2-D2 whistled low, a somber tone that indicated that he felt the same way.

For a moment, there was only silence. Then, Chewbacca lifted his head, sniffing the air.

"I smell something!" he cried, and the big Wookiee lumbered off in search of something.

"What, Chewie?" asked Han as he and the others followed Chewbacca.

"Oh, it smells good," Chewbacca muttered as he kept moving toward the smell. The Doctor wasn't quite sure what the Wookiee was smelling, but he wasn't sure that it was such a good idea.

Regardless, Chewbacca kept trekking on, oblivious to the danger that the Doctor sensed was coming. At last, he came to a stop at a dead animal hanging from a large stick shaped like a 'V' at the top. Chewbacca licked his lips hungrily.

"Here it is," he said to the others, who had joined him in gazing at the dead animal, though the others were gazing at it in confusion. What was it doing there? That was probably what everyone was wondering, and it was certainly what the Doctor was wondering. Was this the source of the danger he had sensed?

"I don't get it," he said nonchalantly.

"It's just a dead animal, Chewie," said Han.

"Yes, but it looks good," said Chewbacca. "Can I eat it?"

Without waiting for an answer, Chewbacca made a grab at the animal, and that was when the Doctor realized that they were not quite standing on forest ground. In fact, they were standing on a huge net. The dead animal must have been the activation switch for the trap they were all currently standing on. Alarmed thoughts from both Fordo and Jennara told the Doctor that they had found it, too.

"Chewie, wait!" cried Jennara, but it was too late.

Chewbacca sprang the trap, and the search party was caught in the net.

* * *

 **Uh oh! They're caught in a net! However will they get out?! *spoiler alert* The exact same way they got out in the film.**

 **So, what did you think of this chapter? I know, I know, not as exciting as the other ones, but it's pretty integral to the plot of the whole thing, so you know. Gotta have it. Anyway, leave your thoughts in a review! They will be read! I promise!**

 **Let's see...news...nothing comes to mind, so I guess no news, which is usually good news, I suppose.**

 **Next Friday: The Rebel leaders join up with Logray's Ewok tribe, and C-3PO tells a story.**

 **Anyway, that about does it for this (pretty short) author's note. Until the next chapter, my friends!**


	7. Part of the Tribe

Chapter Six: Part of the Tribe

The net caught the eight Rebels and lifted them high into the air. They were trapped in one of the most embarrassing ways possible: in a net that should have been obvious. The Doctor cursed himself and tried to reach for his lightsaber, but his arms were trapped. Jennara's arms were trapped, too, and so were Luke's. Fordo could have used the knife he had brought with him, but he couldn't reach it, either. They all had the tools to cut, yet none of them could reach them.

"Perfect," said the Doctor sarcastically.

"Nice going, Chewie," chided Han. "Always thinking with your stomach, aren't you?"

"Let's just stay calm, everyone," said Fordo. "General Solo, can you try and reach one of the Jedi's lightsabers or my knife?"

"Sure thing, Fordo," said Han angrily as he tried to reach, but couldn't.

The Doctor probably could have just used the Force to cut the net open, but then he heard the buzzsaw stored in R2-D2's hidden compartments start to whir, and he decided not to do anything. R2 would handle this.

"R2," said 3PO concernedly, "I don't think that's a very good idea. It's a very long drop!"

And as C-3PO uttered that last word, R2's buzzsaw cut through the net, and the net itself could no longer support the weight of six people and two droids. The net broke, and all eight of them tumbled out of the net and landed on the ground with a heaping thud.

Somehow, Jennara ended up on top of the Doctor. The two stared each other in the face, and the Doctor could distinctly feel his face getting warmer and warmer as she smiled down at him nervously.

"Hi," she said.

"Hello," the Doctor said back.

"Are you going to get up?" asked Jennara.

"Are you?"

"I don't know. I like it here."

"Me too."

"That being said, I should probably get up, shouldn't I?"

"I'm thinking so, especially since I can sense several beings surrounding us."

Jennara looked up, and the Doctor followed her gaze to several teddy-bear-like creatures coming out from the shrubbery and bushes. The short creatures had fur on their bodies of various colors ranging from grey to brown to black to white. They looked at the Rebels with curiosity, and most of the Rebels looked at the little creatures with equal curiosity. The Doctor knew instantly what they were, for he had seen them before.

Ewoks, the natives of Endor.

The Doctor watched as the Ewoks approached the Rebels with apprehension. They were all gawking at them and speaking to each other in Ewokese.

"What are they?" one asked.

"Where did they come from?" asked another.

"Are they with the men in white?" questioned another.

As they got closer, the Ewoks brandished their weapons at the Rebels.

"Don't move," said one with black-and-grey fur, who looked to be the leader of the party. "We're armed."

The Doctor and 3PO were, of course, the only ones who could understand what the Ewoks were saying. Han, who had no idea what they were saying, took the aggressive approach.

"Point that thing somewhere else!" he ordered, pushing the leader's spear away from his face. The Ewok leader and another Ewok began talking to each other rapidly.

"He's very hostile," said the leader.

"What should we do?" asked the Ewok. "Should we let them go?"

"No, we need to capture them," answered the leader. "They might be with the men in white. Take their weapons!" he shouted to his fellow Ewoks.

The Doctor graciously handed one of the Ewoks his lightsaber, making sure to tell them that he wanted it back. Jennara was less eager to part with her lightsaber, but the Doctor assured her that it would be okay. Fordo handed them a variety of weapons, and the Ewoks seemed a bit more cautious around him after that. Han's blaster was forcibly snatched from his hand.

"Chewie, give them your crossbow," said Luke as he handed an Ewok his lightsaber, and the Doctor took notice of the Wookiee struggling with the Ewoks over his weapon.

"But I don't want to!" he shouted.

"Chewbacca, just do it," said Fordo. "It'll be alright, won't it, Doctor?"

"I think so," said the Doctor. The Ewoks didn't seem to want to be hostile; they were just taking precautions.

And that was when C-3PO emerged from beneath the dense foliage.

"Oh, my head," he said as he sat up.

Instantly, the Ewoks took notice of him and began chattering to each other in Ewokese. They were saying something about the god among them, and the Doctor automatically assumed they were referring to 3PO. The Doctor may have sometimes been called a lonely god, but the Ewoks surely wouldn't recognize him with his eleventh face as opposed to his fourth.

The Ewoks, their chatter finished, began to chant and bow to 3PO reverently.

"Gold god," they sang. "Gold god."

"Hello," said C-3PO in Ewokese. "I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations."

"3PO, can you understand what they're saying?" asked Luke.

"Oh yes, Master Luke," said 3PO, instantly going off on a tangent. "Remember that I am fluent in six million forms of communication."

"Can you, Doctor?" asked Fordo.

"I can, yes," said the Doctor. "Although their dialect is really weird. Or maybe I'm just getting old. It has been well over five-hundred years since I last encountered Ewoks."

"Okay, well, what are you telling them, 3PO?" asked Han.

"Hello, I think," said 3PO. "And I must agree with the Doctor. The dialect they are using is very primitive."

"What are they chanting?" asked Fordo.

"They're saying 'gold god,'" said the Doctor. "It looks like they think 3PO's a god."

R2 jittered at 3PO, saying that he thought it was funny.

"This is very humorous!" cried a laughing Chewbacca.

"Well, 3PO, why don't you use some of that divine influence and get us out of this mess?" said Han irritably.

"I beg your pardon, General Solo, but that just wouldn't be very proper," said 3PO.

The Doctor could see Luke covering his mouth, trying not to burst out laughing. Jennara was doing the same, and even Fordo's lips trembled upward. Han, however, was not amused.

"Proper?" he asked.

"It's against my programming to impersonate a deity," said 3PO elegantly.

"Why, you golden piece of-" said Han, angrily lunging at 3PO. The Ewoks did not take to this very kindly, pointing their spears at Han and shouting various threats at him.

"My mistake," said Han reasonably. "He's a friend of mine."

"We shall capture the intruders," shouted the party leader, "and the gold god and Chief Logray will decide what to do with them!"

The Ewoks liked this plan, and so they cheered as the tied up the Rebels to long poles, R2 to a stretcher-type apparatus, and carried them all the way back to the village. It was a long walk, and the Doctor got bored about halfway through, so he decided to sift through his memories a little more, smiling at the good times he had had throughout his life. The Doctor closed his eyes as he sifted, and when he opened them again, it was nighttime on Endor.

They had arrived at the village, where even more Ewoks cheered for the golden god, C-3PO. 3PO was sitting in a chair and being carried to the village by four separate Ewoks. They sat him at the very center of the village, which was located high in the trees. The village itself, the Doctor noticed, was comprised primarily of differently-sized platforms connected by various bridges. The Ewoks probably put 3PO at the center to signify bringing him into the hearts of the village and the Ewoks living in it.

3PO was talking to Chief Logray, a beige-furred Ewok with a skull on his head, spear in his left hand, and the Doctor's lightsaber in his right. They were muttering to each other, so the Doctor could barely hear their conversation as he and his friends were being placed over a fire pit. Looking at the fire pit, though, the Doctor figured it out on his own.

They were going to be made into a meal. Again.

"What did he say?" Han asked 3PO, very irate at this point.

"I'm very embarrassed, General Solo, but it would appear that you are to be the main course for a banquet in my honor," said 3PO.

"Not again," moaned Jennara as the Ewoks began to stack the wood that would be used to cook them alive.

"Again?" asked Fordo.

"Yeah, a couple of us were set on by a rancor on Tatooine about a week ago," said Luke nonchalantly. "No big deal."

As Fordo took in this information and the Ewoks built up the fire pit, the Doctor looked to his right and saw a familiar and welcome sight.

Leia Organa. Alive and well. She hadn't died in a speeder crash after all. She was okay. The Doctor's hearts sang for joy.

"Hello, Leia!" he cried out, smiling at her. "I'd hug you and give you a little air kiss on each cheek, but I'm quite literally tied up right now. So sorry about that."

Leia laughed at the Doctor's odd greeting, and she moved toward them to try and free them. She was, unfortunately, stopped by the Ewoks, who held spears to her.

"But these are my friends!" she appealed to the Ewoks. "3PO, tell them!"

"Yes, please get us out of here!" growled Chewbacca.

3PO turned to Chief Logray and spoke to him on his friends' behalfs.

"You must set my friends free," he said in Ewokese.

"No, no, no, no, no, I can't do that," said Logray. "We've got this nice banquet just for you. Keep the wood coming!"

The Ewoks continued to pile on wood, making Han, Chewbacca, and even R2 more nervous. The Jedi and Fordo, however, kept level heads.

"You know, I don't that helped us very much," said Han, a bit panicked now.

"3PO," called the Doctor, an idea popping into his head, "tell the Ewoks that if they don't do as you wish, you will become a very angry god and use your magic."

"Doctor, what magic are you talking about?" asked 3PO frantically. "I couldn't possibly lie to these poor creatures about powers I don't have!"

"Just tell them, anyway," said the Doctor. "And be a bit authoritative about it."

"You rascals had better listen to me!" said 3PO as authoritatively as he could. "I will become very angry with you if you don't do as I say and let my friends go! I will be forced to use my magic powers on you."

The Ewoks seemed skeptical, and Logray addressed them immediately.

"Oh, he's just kidding," said Logray. "Start the fire!"

The Ewoks began chanting and singing as they moved to light the fire and cook the Doctor and his companions. While Han began to panic yet again and the rest of the Rebels watched as the Ewoks brought their torches closer and closer to the wood, the Doctor merely closed his eyes and concentrated on the chair in which 3PO was sitting.

Using the Force, the Doctor lifted the chair up into the air. Instantly, the Ewoks began to panic and hide from their god's angry magic. 3PO, meanwhile, was crying out for help, but the Rebels were the only ones who actually knew that. The Ewoks probably thought he was getting ready to cast an angry spell on them.

"Cut them loose! CUT THEM LOOSE!" shouted Logray only a few seconds after the "magic" began. The Doctor had thought he might last a bit longer; he had some wonderful twirls in mind for 3PO. Still, the Doctor was grateful for being cut loose from that wooden pole. Han and Leia certainly were. The moment Han was loose, he ran over to Leia and embraced her lovingly. Luke, Chewbacca, Fordo, and R2 joined Han and Leia. Jennara, however, ran to hug the Doctor.

"Magic powers, huh?" she asked with a little smirk after they had unwillingly separated.

"Using the Force to scare innocent little creatures is strictly forbidden," said the Doctor. "Except for cheap tricks that will probably end up saving your life."

Jennara laughed at the Doctor's joke as they rejoined their Rebel friends.

"Thank you very much, 3PO," said the Doctor with a little wave of his hand.

"I didn't know I had it in me," said 3PO, who appeared to be the droid equivalent of out of breath.

The Rebels all smiled at each other, happy to be back together again.

That night, the Ewoks were delighted to have C-3PO tell them a story. C-3PO decided, of course, to tell them the story of their adventures starting from the time when Luke had begun his quest to become a Jedi Knight and defeat the Sith.

"Gather around," 3PO called in Ewokese. "Gather around. Our story begins on the planet Tatooine, a long way away from here. My counterpart, R2-D2, and I were on a ship with Princess Leia. We were on a secret mission for the Rebel Alliance when our ship was attacked by Darth Vader." C-3PO then made a sound that sounded like Darth Vader's breathing. The Doctor could sense Jennara shiver a bit and put her arm around his, leaning into his shoulder for comfort. The Doctor smiled as 3PO continued his story.

"R2 and I escaped Darth Vader and were found by Luke Skywalker. Together, along with Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jennara Oswin, and the Doctor, we journeyed to Mos Eisley to find a pilot to take us to another planet, Alderaan. We found Han Solo and Chewbacca, and we flew to Alderaan in the _Millenium Falcon_." 3PO emitted a noise similar to the _Millenium Falcon_ 's engines running.

"When we got to Alderaan, we found that it had been destroyed by a very nasty machine called the Death Star. We were captured, but we managed to escape and rescue Princess Leia from Darth Vader's clutches. While that was going on, the Doctor was fighting Darth Vader with a lightsaber." 3PO imitated the activation of a lightsaber and swinging it around a few times.

"Good form," muttered Jennara, and the Doctor smiled.

"The Doctor got away from Darth Vader as we made our escape," continued 3PO, "but he was forced to regenerate. His entire body changed in a great big golden light." C-3PO outstretched his arms as far as he could and made a noise that sounded exactly like the Doctor's previous regeneration. C-3PO then said, "Hello, I'm the Doctor," in the Doctor's tenth voice. Again, he said "Hello, I'm the Doctor," but this time, it was with the Doctor's current voice. The Ewoks looked at the Doctor himself for a moment, and the Doctor smiled at them all.

"We then arrived at the Rebel Alliance's hidden base on Yavin IV, where we staged an attack on the Death Star," continued 3PO. "Our brave Rebel pilots flew up into the sky and destroyed the Death Star completely." C-3PO imitated ships flying, then a blast, then an explosion, at which the Ewoks cowered slightly. One of the little guys even attached himself to the Doctor.

R2 whistled at 3PO, telling him to talk about the AT-ATs.

"Yes, R2, I was just getting to that," said 3PO in Basic before switching back to Ewokese. "We then built a new base on the ice planet of Hoth after our old one was attacked by the evil Empire. But it was not to last. The Empire used giant machines to attack our base." He mimed and replicated an AT-AT perfectly before continuing. "We escaped again, and I flew to Bespin along with Captain Solo, Chewbacca, R2, and Princess Leia. It was there that Han Solo was frozen in carbonite." 3PO then mimed a large block falling down and a slamming noise.

"After about a year of waiting, we were finally able to rescue Han Solo from the clutches of the evil Jabba the Hutt, but we had to fight our way to freedom," said 3PO, imitating battle sounds, including lightsabers, blasters, and explosions. "We reunited with our Rebel ships, and the Rebels told us to come here to help defeat the Empire once and for all. And that is how we ended up in your presence today."

When 3PO had finished his story, the Ewoks began talking to each other, commenting on the story and its quality. They seemed to have enjoyed it. The Doctor had noticed that they had paid rapt attention to 3PO as he retold the story of the great adventures the Rebels had had. At last, Chief Logray spoke to C-3PO in a whisper, and then 3PO relayed what he said to the Rebels.

"Wonderful!" he cried when Logray finished speaking to him. "We are now part of the tribe!"

* * *

 **Lots of Whouffle in this chapter. I love the 11/Clara pairing. They're just so cute together! It's like aaaggghh!**

 **Anyway...The dialogue that Moffat writes between the two when they banter/flirt is pretty fast and witty. I tried my best to emulate what he does in the show. Hopefully, I was successful!**

 **What did you guys think of this chapter? Let me know in a review! Your feedback is always appreciated, and I do read all of it! Don't be shy now!**

 **Next Friday: The Doctor makes a decision, one that might leave his closest friend heartbroken.**

 **And that about does it for this author's note. Until the next chapter, my friends!**


	8. Leaving

Chapter Seven: Leaving

While the welcoming celebrations were going on, General Fordo contacted the squad of Rebel soldiers waiting at the predetermined rendezvous point on a secure channel and told them to join the strike team leaders at the Ewok village. General Solo was talking to C-3PO, telling him to have the Ewoks assist the Rebel effort in any way that they can. The rest of the Rebels-Jennara, Leia, Chewbacca, and R2-were being hugged and cuddled by the Ewoks, who were very friendly, if a bit primitive. However, the mind of the Doctor was not focused on Fordo's contacting the Rebels, Han's instructions for 3PO, or even the friendliness of the Ewoks.

It was on Luke Skywalker.

The Doctor saw Luke discreetly grab his lightsaber and leave the hut in which they had listened to C-3PO's story. The Gallifreyan knew instantly what he was going to try and do, and he didn't like it. He knew that Luke was going to try to take on Darth Sidious and Darth Vader alone, and that was not something that the Doctor was going to allow. Luke would surely die. He could probably handle Vader on his own, but not Sidious. Not even the Doctor could handle Sidious alone. What chance did Luke honestly think he would have?

The Doctor followed Luke out of the hut and into the night air, calling out to him.

"Luke," he called. "Just where do you think you're going?"

"Doctor, I have to do this," said Luke. "I have to try and turn my father back to the light. He is here. I can feel him searching for me. I'm going to go to him, and I will convince him to defeat Darth Sidious with me. I know you and the others don't think he has any good in him, but-"

"Luke," said the Doctor, stopping him with a hand. "I don't believe that. Obi-Wan might not think there is any Anakin left in Vader, but I do. I didn't see it at first, but just before he struck my previous life down, I felt hesitation. He didn't want to strike me down at first. Of course, he did, but that moment of hesitation-that single moment-proved to me what your mother said about him."

"My mother?" asked Luke. "You knew my mother?"

"Yes," said the Doctor, nodding sadly. "I knew her quite well. I held you in my arms as a baby when she died on the operating table. Her last words will echo in the back of my mind for the rest of my lives."

"What were her last words, Doctor?" asked Luke eagerly.

"She said that there was still good in Vader," said the Doctor. "There was still a shred of Anakin in that shell of Vader. I didn't quite believe her, but now I see the truth. There is still good in Vader, and I think, with the right push, we can bring out the Anakin in him."

"We?" asked Luke, ears perking at the Doctor's use of the word.

"Yes, we," said the Doctor. "You will face Vader, and I am sure you'll turn him back to the light, but you don't have to do it alone. In fact, you won't do it alone. I'm coming with you."

"Doctor, you don't have to come with me," said Luke.

"But I do," said the Doctor. "Last time I sent you to face Vader, you were nearly killed, and you learned the truth in a way that should never have happened. And I felt very guilty about it. I will not let you go alone this time. This time, you will have me by your side."

"Doctor, I can't ask you to come with me," said Luke hastily.

"And you don't have to," said the Doctor. "Because I'm coming with you, whether you like it or not. Luke, Darth Sidious is far more powerful than any other opponent you or I have ever faced. I have faced thousands of opponents throughout my lives, and none of them are as powerful as Sidious. He fought me to a stalemate when I fought him twenty-three years ago. I believe that, with the two of us, plus your father if he joins us, we can defeat Sidious."

"Thank you for the offer, Doctor, but, with all due respect, you're needed here," said Luke.

"No, Luke. I'm needed on that Death Star," implored the Doctor. "That's almost certainly where this final confrontation will be, and that's where I need to be because you alone will be severely outmatched by both Sidious and Vader. I cannot, in good conscience, let you go at it alone. Obi-Wan might believe that you are destined to face the Sith alone, but I don't. I'm coming with you."

Luke looked out at the sky for a moment, and the Doctor followed his gaze. He could see the Death Star floating in orbit above the moon, incomplete structurally. He was almost certain that Darth Sidious was on board that station, and the Doctor could sense that the time had come. The Force was ready for the completion of its ultimate plan at last. And Luke and the Doctor would be the ones to see it through to the end, no matter what.

After a full minute of gazing out into the sky, Luke nodded his head.

"Okay," he said. "We'll take them together."

"Good," said the Doctor quietly. "I'll meet you just outside their command center."

"Command center?" asked Luke. "How do you know to go there? How do you even know where that is?"

"It's where Vader is," said the Doctor. "He's looking for you. It'll be a bit of a shock when he finds both of us, won't it?"

"I agree," said Luke, smiling a little. "I'll meet you there, then."

"Right," said the Doctor turning back to the hut to retrieve his lightsaber. "I'll go out a different way. Make it seem more discreet. Oh, and, by the way, you might want to tell Leia that she's your sister, just in case we don't make it back."

"I should probably do that soon," said Luke, wincing at a memory, presumably of kissing her. "She might want to wash out her tongue as quickly as possible."

"Probably," said the Doctor jokingly as he went back into the hut to get his lightsaber.

As he picked up the lightsaber, he looked at it. It was an odd shape, as far as lightsabers went, but it still did its job and served its purpose. The claws on the end of the hilt certainly served to intimidate some foes, and it did that quite well. This lightsaber had been his faithful companion for almost two hundred years, and now he would use it in his final battle with the Sith.

He flipped the lightsaber around in his hand, clipped it to his belt, and left the hut for the last time.

The Doctor got onto a bridge that would lead him on a path to the Imperial command center when he was stopped by a familiar voice.

"Doctor!" called Jennara Oswin as she ran up to him.

"Hello," said the Doctor sadly.

"What's wrong?" asked Jennara when she looked at the Doctor's face, illuminated in the pale moonlight.

"I have to go somewhere," said the Doctor. "And I might not return. It would probably be better if I just left."

"You're leaving?" asked Jennara, flabbergasted. "Why?"

"Luke's going off to confront Vader and Sidious, and I'm going with him," said the Doctor.

"You can't!" cried Jennara.

"I have to," said the Doctor. "He doesn't stand a chance facing them alone. I have to go with him. I have to end this with him."

"What about the Rebels?" asked Jennara, tears already welling up in her eyes. "They need you here."

"They have you," said the Doctor. "What more could they ask for?"

"I'm not nearly as good of a fighter as you are," said Jennara.

"Don't doubt yourself, Jennara," said the Doctor. "Take control. You can do it. I believe in you. Everyone in that hut looks up to you for wisdom and guidance. So be that wisdom and guidance. Jennara Oswin, I have watched you grow up into a strong young woman and a powerful Jedi. You'll do just fine without me."

"But they need you," sobbed Jennara. " _I_ need you!"

"What are you talking about?" asked the Doctor, already knowing the answer to the question.

Jennara did not answer for a few seconds. She was sobbing, hands covering her face. she resurfaced, and her face was streaked with tears.

"Have you ever been with someone you really care about, but you can't ever tell them?" asked Jennara. "That's where I am with you. I need to tell you, and it's just trying its hardest to burst out of my chest, so I might as well tell you, Doctor. I love you."

The Doctor was afraid this might have happened. He couldn't deny that he loved Jennara as well, but he felt as though he couldn't tell her in a vain effort to emotionally distance himself. He didn't try to get attached to her; it just sort of happened.

"Jennara, I-"

"It's okay if you don't feel the same way," said Jennara. "I understand. You're my old Master. Why would you care about me in that way?"

"It's not that, Jennara," said the Doctor. It was his turn to have his eyes well up with tears. "I just...can't."

"Can't what?" asked Jennara.

"I can't be with you, no matter what I may feel about you," the Doctor tried to explain.

"So you do feel something?" asked Jennara hopefully.

"That's not important right now," the Doctor said quickly.

"It is to me!" cried Jennara.

"Well, I can't be with you," said the Doctor.

"Why not?" asked Jennara.

"Because I'm a Gallifreyan. And you're a human," explained the Doctor.

"What's that got to do with it?" asked Jennara.

"You humans wither and die," said the Doctor. "But I'm a Gallifreyan. I don't age. I regenerate, and it is long stretches of time between regenerations. Humans don't generally last that long. It's the curse of the Gallifreyans. You can't spend the rest of your days with someone you-" The Doctor stopped himself from saying more.

"Someone you what? Doctor, what are you trying to say?" asked Jennara

"I'm saying that you could spend the rest of your life with me, but I can't spend the rest of my life with you, and it breaks both of my hearts," said the Doctor.

By this point, Jennara was crying again, and the Doctor was hugging her close to him.

"Doctor, please, please don't go," said Jennara.

"I have to," said the Doctor.

"What if you don't come back?" asked Jennara. "What if you change and I never see you again as you are now?"

"You'll have to carry on with the new Doctor," said the Doctor. "We all change, some more literally than others."

Jennara said nothing as they separated, so the Doctor continued.

"I have to go," he said finally. "But know that I do care about you, Jennara, more than you might ever know."

Jennara nodded, but said nothing as the Doctor left her standing on that bridge. Throughout his entire walk to the command center, he could feel Jennara's sadness emanating from the village in waves.

* * *

The Doctor followed Vader's Force signal straight to the Imperial command center. Crouching in the forest during the Endor night, he could see the Death Star and Endor Prime in the sky, as well as the shield generator on the ground near the command center. On the top of the command center was a landing pad, where an Imperial shuttle was docking. The Doctor was certain that Darth Vader was aboard that vessel.

 _This is it,_ he thought to himself.

The Doctor sensed a presence crouch down beside him, and he immediately recognized Luke.

"That's him," said Luke, pointing to the shuttle. "That's Vader."

"You ready?" asked the Doctor.

"Born ready," replied Luke, mentally steeling himself. "But how will we get up there?"

"I have an idea," said the Doctor. "But to be fair, it is a pretty terrible plan."

"What do you have in mind?" asked Luke.

"Surrendering ourselves," suggested the Doctor. "It's really the only way we will almost certainly get to Vader. He's the highest-ranking individual on this base. The officers will almost certainly report to him if they were to catch Rebels wandering the moon."

"Makes as much sense as anything," said Luke. "Well, here we go."

"Geronimo," muttered the Doctor as he and Luke set off to find an Imperial officer to whom they could surrender.

It didn't take very long. As soon as the two Jedi reached the perimeter of the command center, they were stopped by Imperial stormtroopers, who immediately recognized them as Jedi and pointed their rifles at them menacingly.

"We surrender!" shouted the Doctor as an officer ran up to the stormtroopers and demanded to know what was going on.

"Who are you?!" shouted the officer, training his blaster on both Jedi.

"We are Rebels, and we humbly surrender to the might of the Empire," said Luke, and the Doctor could sense Luke forcing himself not to gag on his own words.

"We demand to be incarcerated and brought before Lord Vader immediately," said the Doctor.

"How many more of you are there?" demanded the officer.

"Just us two," the Doctor quickly lied.

The officer looked as though he didn't quite believe the Doctor. The skepticism on his face was evident, but he still lowered his gun and barked at his troops.

"Bring me their weapons," he boomed. "I'll report this to Lord Vader."

The stormtroopers forcibly took the Jedi's lightsabers away and brought them to the officer, who was in the process of informing Darth Vader that he had apprehended two Rebels who had surrendered to him.

The Doctor and Luke were taken into an elevator with the officer and two stormtroopers. They were handcuffed as the elevator went up, but neither Jedi moved a muscle, much to the distaste of the officer and his troopers. After a few seconds, the Imperials and their prisoners reached the top floor, just beneath the landing pad, and they were met by none other than Darth Vader.

"Lord Vader," said the officer, stepping out of the elevator to greet him, "these are the two Rebels who surrendered to us mere minutes ago. They deny the presence of other Rebels, but I believe there may be more than just these two. I request permission to conduct a further search of the area."

While the officer was reporting to Vader, Vader himself was eying the Doctor and Luke carefully. The Doctor could sense gladness coming from Vader at the sight of Luke and even the Doctor. Where once there had been fear of the Doctor and his power, there was now joy at the sight of him. It made the Doctor a bit uneasy.

"They were armed with these," said the officer, handing Vader Luke and the Doctor's lightsabers. Vader examined them, betraying no emotion from beneath the mask.

"Good work, commander," said Vader, his deep voice rumbling. "Conduct your search. Bring me their companions."

"Yes, my lord," said the officer, and he and the stormtroopers left the three Force-users alone.

As soon as the elevator was shut and the officer and his stormtroopers started going down, Vader, the Doctor, and Luke began to walk toward another elevator, which would take them to the landing pad.

"My Master has been expecting you," said Vader. "Both of you."

"I know, Father," said Luke calmly, even though the Doctor knew that he was absolutely terrified.

"It seems that you have accepted the truth, then," said Vader. "Did you explain as best you can, Doctor? Did you try to word your way around your lies?"

"I explained it the only way I knew how," said the Doctor.

"And I have indeed accepted the truth," said Luke. "I've accepted the truth that you are Anakin Skywalker, my father, and-"

"That name no longer has any meaning for me," interrupted Vader.

"It is the name of the person you are," said the Doctor. "Or have you forgotten?"

"The Doctor and I know that there is good in you, Father," implored Luke. "Your Master hasn't driven it from you. Not fully."

"There is no hope for me to turn back to the light," said Vader, and the Doctor picked up a small hint of sadness in his voice.

"Padme believed that you could," said the Doctor. "She died believing that. Will you let her sacrifice be in vain?"

"It appears that I will," said Vader quietly.

"I can hear it in your voice, Father," said Luke. "You're not truly evil. You couldn't destroy me, even when you had the perfect opportunity to do it. And you won't bring me before Darth Sidious now because of the good in your heart."

Vader, deliberately trying to change the subject, activated Luke's lightsaber and examined it.

"I see you have constructed a new lightsaber," said Vader. "I sense influence from all three of the other Jedi-the Doctor, Kenobi, and Oswin. They have trained you well, and your skills are complete. You are indeed as powerful as my Master has foreseen."

"Vader," said the Doctor, redirecting the subject right back to where it was, "come with us. Together, we can help to destroy Darth Sidious completely. You don't have to take us to him." The Doctor, of course, knew that this wasn't actually going to happen. Vader would almost certainly take him and Luke to Sidious, but there was no harm in trying.

"You don't know the power of the Dark Side, Doctor," said Vader. "I must obey my Master and bring the both of you before him as he has requested. He will turn you, Luke, but he will destroy you completely, Doctor."

"I won't turn," said Luke, "and you'll have to kill me."

"And you can't kill me unless I'm in the middle of a regeneration," countered the Doctor. "If I am forced to regenerate, I'll just go to where nobody can touch me, then regenerate."

"Brave," mused Vader. "But if it is your destiny to die at my Master's hand, then so it is."

"Father, please," begged Luke. "Search your feelings. You are conflicted in your heart. Where once was hatred, there is now love to take its place."

"We're begging you," said the Doctor. "Let go of the hate. You can do it. I know you can."

"It is too late for me," said Vader sadly. For a moment, the Doctor could sense the true nature of the conflict residing within Darth Vader. It was almost as if Anakin were pushing out of Vader, trying to break free of the control the Dark Side had over his body. For a second, it was there, and then it was gone. Vader shook his head and motioned to the stormtroopers guarding the elevator. They walked behind the Doctor and Luke and nudged them with their rifles.

"Darth Sidious will show you both the true nature of the Force," said Vader as the two Jedi were escorted into the elevator by the stormtroopers. "He is your Master now."

"Obi-Wan was right," said the Doctor angrily. "Anakin Skywalker is dead."

Vader's mask lowered just a little as the elevator doors closed and they were taken to a cell for the night.

* * *

The Jedi were guarded in their cell all night, their cuffs still restraining them still. The Doctor was less than pleased to find out that these were special cuffs designed by the Empire to inhibit outward usage of the Force. He could still sense things around him, but there was no way that the Doctor could influence them with those cuffs on.

The whole night, the Doctor sat awake, thinking of Jennara. He thought of how heartbroken she had been when he left. It wasn't a Master-Padawan feeling, either. She didn't feel sad because she was losing her Master. She felt sad because someone she loved was leaving her, possibly forever, and it broke her heart. The Doctor had had a lot of time to think about his relationship with her and whether or not he should even pursue one. Would it be logical? Would it even work at all?

He didn't have an answer to his questions when Darth Vader opened up the cell door the next morning and strode in, staring down at the Doctor and Luke. For a moment, it looked like Vader was either going to run away with the Jedi and help defeat his Master or execute the Jedi on the spot. The Doctor wasn't entirely sure, and both he and Luke awaited their fate as Darth Vader's mechanical breathing echoed throughout the cell.

"Come with me," said Vader.

The Doctor and Luke stood and followed Vader out to the landing pad. Vader forced them to board the shuttle, then got into the cockpit and took off. The Doctor, of course, knew exactly where they were going. They were going to the new Death Star.

They were going to meet Darth Sidious and decide the fate of the galaxy at last.

* * *

 **Hooray for heart-wrenching scenes! Gosh, this week has been really long for me! I don't know why, but it just has, and I don't like it. Anyway, new chapter! YAYYYY!**

 **I had had that scene with the Doctor and Jennara planned out from the moment I knew that Jennara was going to play a major role in this story. Now that I mention it, she wasn't always as big a role as she ended up being. Originally, I was going to have her written as sort of a one-off cameo as a dead Padawan in RotS, and I was going to have the Doctor go to Saleucami and resurrect Stass Allie using a regeneration, similar to the Meta-Crisis at the end of Series 4.**

 **Then I decided that that was completely ludicrous.**

 **Thank God, too, because now I get to write Whouffle, and I love Whouffle, so very much. Seriously, though, it would be ridiculous for Stass to be inexplicably revived at the end of RotS, even if it was with a regeneration. She blew up, for goodness sake! And yes, I know that, in Doctor Who, people have died in ludicrous fashions and come back to life in equally ludicrous fashions *cough cough Rory cough cough*, but this is Star Wars. When a character dies in Star Wars, they usually stay dead, except for the three Force Ghosts. And Qui-Gon. And Palpatine in one of the more ridiculous EU comic stories, but other than those guys, they all stay dead. Stass will stay dead, too, though she does make a brief appearance in "Adventures of the Doctor," so that's exciting.**

 **So, what did you think of this one? Leave your thoughts in a review!**

 **Next Friday: We delve into the twisted mind of Darth Sidious.**

 **And that about does it for this author's note. Until the next chapter, my friends!**


	9. The Dark Thoughts of Darth Sidious

Chapter Eight: The Dark Thoughts of Darth Sidious

The man who was called Sidious was sitting on his throne on the Death Star. He was calmly and almost casually perched on his seat in the high tower of the new Death Star, staring out at the stars in the galaxy that he had conquered for the Sith, at long last.

Sidious had been the culmination of a thousand years of planning. He had been the catalyst for the destruction of the Jedi Order, and his vengeance upon their archaic cult had been so complete that, where there were once well over ten thousand Jedi, now there were four, only three of whom were any part of the original Order. Bane may have been considered the _Sith'ari_ , but Sidious was the true _Sith'ari_. His power was virtually unmatched by anyone. Nobody could stop him. Not even the Doctor.

As with many occasions such as this, Sidious began thinking about his life and his masterful manipulation of the entire galaxy. In truth, he had led a life so worthy of being called _Sith'ari_ that he had simply adopted the title for himself, regardless of conceptions about Bane's status as the true _Sith'ari_. Bane was long dead, and Sidious had perfected his Rule of Two.

Darth Sidious had been born on Naboo to the House of Palpatine with a name he no longer cared to even think about, let alone use. Along with his mother and father, he had two sisters and two brothers, and he hated all of them. They, in turn, hated him, but it was of no matter to Sidious. He didn't care one iota about them. Why should he care what they thought of him?

Sidious had discovered the Sith at a young age, collecting Dark Side artifacts and studying them for his own personal gain. To him, they were fascinating, and he soon realized that he had found his calling. He wanted to be a part of the great Order of the Sith Lords and obtain absolute power. The only question was: how would he do it? From what Sidious understood at the time, the Sith were a very secretive Order. It was not as though they held auditions to become a Sith Lord, so how would he be able to join?

Sidious's answer came when he was seventeen years old. Just after he turned seventeen, he met a Muun businessman named Hego Damask. Sidious had undermined his father's political agenda quite masterfully, if he did say so himself, and that got Damask's attention. He was initially employed by Damask as a spy, reporting only to the Muun himself. It was good work, and Sidious enjoyed having someone around who had similar interests as he did. Damask was his mentor, too, which made it that much better. But, of course, his father had to ruin everything, as usual.

Cosinga Palpatine, Sidious's father, brought the entire Palpatine family to Chandrila, where Sidious was staying, in a vain attempt to take Sidious to Chommel Minor to complete the Youth Legislative Program. Sidious, of course, did not want any part of that, so he contacted Damask for advice. The Muun casually counseled Sidious to do whatever he needed to do. Looking back on the conversation, Sidious supposed that his mentor had wanted all along for him to do what he had done.

On the family yacht, Cosinga and Sidious got into a very heated verbal argument. At the end of it, Sidious tapped into all the hate he had for his father, his family, and his pointless life with them, and he murdered his father. Sidious then went through the whole yacht and murdered the rest of his family. The best thing about it was that he had actually enjoyed killing them very much. He felt more alive than ever at that moment, and, to be honest, nobody else he ever killed gave him that same satisfaction. Granted, he always took satisfaction in extinguishing the lives of those who were weaker than he was and even those who were stronger than he was, though those enemies were few and far between.

After returning to Chandrila, Sidious was safe in the knowledge that Damask, who had been told of Sidious's murders, would hide all of the evidence. Sidious would not have to fear being implicated in the event. Sidious met with Damask a week later, where the Muun revealed himself to be the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Plagueis. Plagueis took Sidious under his wing and gave him the training he needed to become the ruthless Sith Lord he was.

Sidious trained for a very long time, and during that time, his thirst for knowledge was greater than ever. After his initiation training was complete, he entered politics, electing to keep a low profile to focus on his more advanced Sith training. He lost a few elections in his early career, but it mattered little. He was too busy preparing to take over the galaxy. Besides, he would have more chances to win later.

It was around this time that he met the young infant whose name would become Darth Maul. He took the Zabrak under his wing, just as Plagueis, who was still alive at this point, though he was doing nothing more than conducting failed experiments to create life and make himself live forever, had done. Sidious trained Maul mercilessly, and the young Zabrak was fanatically, almost blindly loyal to him. When Maul's training was complete, Sidious remembered smiling. Soon, he would take his Master's place as Dark Lord of the Sith.

In the meantime, it was time for his alter ego, Palpatine, to make his move. Even though Sidious dissociated himself with that name a long time ago, he still made a conscious effort to answer to it when people were talking to him. After his predecessor was assassinated, Sidious stepped in to take his place, and Senator Palpatine began his rise to ultimate power. But first, he needed allies. Using his charismatic charm and a bit of influence from the Force, Sidious was able to gather allies both weak and powerful, including Wilhuff Tarkin, who would go on to be one of Sidious's senior officers until his death. Now that Sidious had established himself as a well-respected and beloved Senator, it was time to initiate the Grand Plan.

When Sidious was fifty years old, he and Plagueis engineered the Naboo Crisis. It started off with a blockade of Naboo by the Trade Federation, whose leader, Viceroy Nute Gunray, was in his pocket, and then it turned into a full-scale invasion. At the end of the invasion, Gunray would have Queen Amidala sign a treaty legalizing the whole thing. All this was, of course, to get Sidious elected as Chancellor Palpatine. He knew that Finis Valorum would do nothing to help Naboo once the bureaucrats got to his head, so Sidious would promise a strong leader who would not answer to the call of bribery or other such nasty things.

And that was exactly what the Republic got. Sidious was elected Chancellor, and he had completed one more step to the ultimate realization of the Grand Plan. The only thing that went wrong was the defeat of Darth Maul. He hadn't quite expected that, but, to be honest, Maul was an acceptable loss, especially when Sidious had found Anakin Skywalker. That boy was powerful. Far too powerful to be ignored by the Sith. Sidious needed Anakin on his side. The trouble with that was just getting him out of the grip of the Jedi. Sidious figured that it wouldn't be too difficult if he were just patient. And patient he was. Sidious bided his time, dropping subtle hints to Anakin all throughout his training that would ultimately motivate him to join the Dark Side of the Force.

In the meantime, there was some business to take care of. Sidious had already christened former Jedi Master Dooku into the Order of the Sith Lords as Darth Tyranus, although he was only a puppet apprentice. The one truly worthy of being Sidious's apprentice was Anakin Skywalker.

Sidious was by no means an adherent to the Rule of Two, but that didn't stop him from murdering Darth Plagueis in his sleep and becoming the Dark Lord of the Sith. Sidious vowed to be on guard at all times when it came to his apprentices, lest he would fall just as his Master had, as had all the other Banite Sith Lords before him.

Immediately after the Naboo Crisis was averted and peace was restored, Sidious and Tyranus began to plot what would become the ultimate downfall of the Jedi Order: the Clone Wars. The Jedi were afraid of what the Sith could do to them, and for that, Sidious was very happy indeed. It was time to kill them off completely. Using Tyranus as a public figurehead for a Separatist movement, Sidious orchestrated tension between the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the two major factions in the War. Sidious had always known that he would be able to kill the Jedi quickly if he got them caught up in a massive war. The only problem was doing it. Through patient, careful, and quiet manipulation, Sidious managed it at last.

Tyranus helped, of course, by recruiting Jango Fett to be the progenitor for the Clone Army. The Mandalorian was willing to do it, and Sidious knew for a fact that Fett was unaware of his true importance in the Grand Plan. He created the Clone Army, paving the way for the downfall of the Jedi.

Sidious remembered the day on which he knew that Anakin was ready to become his new apprentice. He had been captured by General Grievous while masquerading as Palpatine, and Tyranus had been left to guard him. When the Jedi arrived on the ship carrying him, Sidious watched Tyranus duel Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker fiercely, and by the end of it, Anakin had cut off both of Tyranus's hands and had the archaic former Jedi on his knees, Anakin's lightsaber and his own threatening to behead him with a scissor formation. Sidious had ordered Anakin to kill Tyranus, and he did just as he was told. He may have felt bad about it afterward, but it was clear that Anakin was ready for Sith initiation.

Sidious was capable of cloaking himself in the Force so that no Jedi could sense his true loyalties, but, by the end of the Clone Wars, he didn't really need to put on the whole charade for anyone, except maybe the Doctor. Sidious had always gotten the feeling that the Doctor was able to, at least in part, see through his act. Regardless, even the Doctor was blind to Sidious as he initiated Order 66, which led to the destruction of nearly every Jedi Knight, Padawan, and Master who was spread across the galaxy. There was still the Temple to deal with, of course. For that, he sent his new apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, now christened Darth Vader, to destroy the Jedi in the Temple, and Vader succeeded quite spectacularly.

While Sidious was busy denouncing the Jedi, crowning himself Emperor, dissolving the Republic, and announcing an end to the Clone Wars, Vader was destroying the Separatist Council on Mustafar. It was perfect. The Empire would stand for ten thousand years, and nothing would stop it. But, of course, something had to go wrong.

While Darth Vader was on Mustafar, Obi-Wan Kenobi found him and defeated him in a lightsaber duel, cutting off both of his legs and one of his arms, then leaving him to burn alive. Sidious was forced to rescue his fallen apprentice and restore him, though Vader could never be restored to the strength he had before his duel on Mustafar. He would forever be the shell of a man, never strong enough to kill Sidious, which was probably a good thing for him. Even still, Sidious was disappointed in the state of his new apprentice and had since then been searching for a new one to replace Vader. Not the Doctor, or any of his Jedi friends. They were too incorruptible. But Vader's son, Luke, who had been unknown to Sidious until he had destroyed the first Death Star, was not beholden to the same Code as the Jedi were. And he was just as powerful, if not more so, than his father. Luke was perfect. He would be the new apprentice to the _Sith'ari_.

While Sidious was searching for a new apprentice to replace Vader, he ruled the entire galaxy with an iron fist, allowing no stepping out of line. Any rebellious act would be punished harshly, and either Vader or possibly even Sidious himself would kill the leader of any organized insurrection as soon as they were located. But recently, thanks to the destruction of the first Death Star, the Empire's hold on the galaxy had begun to slip.

Sidious blamed it, in part, on the Doctor. That Gallifreyan Jedi had been a nuisance in his plans ever since Naboo. He had aided in the defeat of Darth Maul then, and he continued to meddle in his plans, even after Vader killed him. And Vader didn't even kill him, not in the common conception of death. The Doctor merely regenerated, took on a new body, and went right back to being a complete and utter interloper.

Sidious had fought the Doctor only once, and he was powerful in his old body. The Sith Lord wondered for a moment how the new Doctor would fare against the might of the most powerful Sith who had ever lived. Hopefully not as well as the old Doctor, or Sidious would be in trouble. While maintaining the illusion that he had definitively triumphed over the Doctor, Sidious was, in reality, just as exhausted as the Doctor was. At least, Sidious thought the Doctor was exhausted. He often couldn't tell what exactly the Gallifreyan was thinking, and it irked him to no end.

All in all, Sidious concluded that the Doctor was a persistent foe, a thorn in his side and had been so for years. He hadn't been able to remove him from play in galactic events, but, as he sat in his throne on the Death Star, looking out over the forest moon of Endor, Sidious sensed that the pivotal moment had come. The fate of the galaxy would soon be at stake, and the players in this final match would be Sidious, Vader, Luke, and the Doctor. Of course, Sidious had foreseen that he would emerge victorious once again. This would be the day that he would kill the Doctor and take all his remaining lives for himself.

At long last, the Doctor would be gone forever, and Sidious could then focus on more important matters, like turning Luke Skywalker to the Dark Side. He already had a name picked out for young Luke when he was initiated into the ranks of the Sith: Darth Caedus. Yes, that was the perfect name for his perfect Skywalker apprentice.

But how would Luke Skywalker become Darth Caedus? That was a question that Sidious had answered as soon as he found out Luke's relationship to Vader. He would use the boy's father to turn him. He had already told Vader to bring Luke to him once Luke surrendered himself to Vader. Sidious had foreseen every event that would transpire when he arrived on Endor, and Luke turning to the Dark Side was one of the events he had seen. It would occur, of course. Sidious's visions had not been proven wrong thus far. What reason did he have to think that they would fail him now?

Once Darth Caedus was within his grasp and the Doctor's lives were within his grasp, it was only a matter of time before the galaxy belonged to Sidious again. He had achieved absolute power, his ultimate goal since he was a child, and he would keep that power, no matter what. He was taking an awful risk with his new plan to keep that power, but he felt that it would be worth it in the end. After this day, the Empire would stand for ten thousand years, just as Sidious had dreamed.

As Darth Sidious sat in his throne on the Death Star, he sensed strong presences in the Force. Two of them he knew well. Luke Skywalker had surrendered to Darth Vader at last, and the boy was being brought by his father to his new Master. But there was a third presence, and it made him smile to himself. The surprise of it all was very pleasing indeed. He had not sensed this presence in a long time.

The Doctor was with Luke and Vader. It was as if all of Sidious's plans had fallen into his lap.

* * *

 **Kinda short and sweet. Well, maybe not so sweet, because...you know...it's Darth Sidious.**

 **I had wanted to include a chapter just for Sidious because he's the main bad guy. All his apprentices and Grievous got little segments of chapters from their perspective. It only makes sense that the head honcho would get his own chapter.**

 **In Doctor Who news, I saw the trailer for Series 9 and I am BEYOND excited! This season is gonna be good! I can feel it in my bones! Plus, Arya Stark's actress (I think her name is Maisie Williams) is in it for a few episodes as a "surprise character" whom the Doctor knows, apparently. I have a few guesses as to who she might be, but nothing concrete at the moment. It could be that either she's a Time Lady (Rani, perhaps?) or some brand-new character we've never seen before but the Doctor has. I don't know.**

 **In other news, I saw the sneak peek for the Sherlock Christmas Special. Looks brilliant as always.**

 **Next Friday: The Doctor and Luke confront Darth Sidious in his throne room, and the final battle begins.**

 **And that about does it for this author's note. We're nearing the end! Until the next chapter, my friends!**


	10. Emperor Palpatine

Chapter Nine: Emperor Palpatine

The Doctor stood with Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader on the elevator of a high tower on the second Death Star. The Gallifreyan sensed a very dark presence at the very top of the tower, and he concluded that this must have been where Darth Sidious had made his throne room. Mon Mothma had said that he was personally overseeing the construction of the new Death Star, the Doctor remembered as the elevator slowed to a halt.

The door slid open, revealing a very dimly-lit room comprised mostly of the colors blue and black. The Doctor's own beige robes and brown cloak contrasted sharply with the overall colors of this room, the throne room of Darth Sidious, known to the galaxy as Emperor Palpatine.

The Doctor, Luke, and Vader stepped out of the elevator, which closed behind them. The Doctor looked to his right and his left and saw two Imperial Red Guards stationed on either side of the elevator, ready to defend the Emperor at a moment's notice. The Doctor smiled. The last time he had encountered Darth Sidious, he had knocked two Red Guards unconscious in less than a second with a casual wave of his hand.

"Boys," he muttered to the guards, tipping an invisible hat to them. He didn't expect them to recognize his new face, if they had seen the old one at all, but it was still fun to jab at the Guards. They wouldn't do anything unless their Master was threatened. Sure enough, the Guards did nothing, and the Doctor continued to walk with Luke and Vader up a small flight of stairs. There was a second flight, but the three Force-users did not ascend it.

At the very back of the room, in front of a giant window that gave everyone in the room a good view of the stars and the night sky, there was a throne. The throne turned around, almost of its own volition, to reveal Darth Sidious. He glanced briefly at Vader before turning his attention to Luke, smiling gleefully at him.

"Welcome, young Skywalker," he said in a raspy voice that fit his personality perfectly. "I have been expecting you. I have not, however, been expecting you, Doctor," he added, turning his attention onto the Doctor now.

"I excel in being unexpected, Darth Sidious," said the Doctor. "Now, tell me the whole plan!"

When Sidious said nothing, the Doctor added, "You know, one day, that's going to work."

"But not today, Doctor," sneered Sidious. "It seems that Lord Vader was right in his assessment of your new face. It is vastly different than your old one."

"Your office is a bit different than your old one, too, Sidious," said the Doctor, glancing around the dark throne room. "You've redecorated, haven't you? Yes, well, I don't like it."

"Ever the funny man, aren't we, Doctor?" asked Sidious rhetorically. "And yet, I believe that you are laughing at the darkness, at the face of certain death."

"I don't really laugh at death so much as flout its principal law," the Doctor shot back.

"You will not soon be laughing anymore, Doctor," snarled Sidious. "I will make certain of this very soon." He turned his head ever so slightly to look back at Luke. "In any case, you will not be needing those Force cuffs anymore."

Sidious waved his hand lazily, and the cuffs blocking the Doctor and Luke's outward Force abilities snapped off their wrists and clanged to the floor. Instantly, the Doctor found himself able to breath a bit deeper. His breathing had been a bit shallow when his powers were restricted.

"Leave us!" Sidious barked, and the Doctor sensed the Red Guards turn their backs and leave the throne room as soon as their Master had ordered.

Sidious stared at Luke with pale yellow eyes that glistened with both excitement and hatred.

"I'm looking forward to completing your training, young Skywalker," said Sidious with an evil smile faintly playing on his lips. "In time, you will call me Master instead of that old fool Obi-Wan Kenobi."

The Doctor felt Vader just slightly bristle with anger at the mention of Obi-Wan's name, but the Doctor noticed that the feeling was lacking in its intensity.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi has taught me well," Luke retorted, trying to sound braver than he was feeling, the Doctor could tell. "You will not succeed in turning me to the Dark Side, as you did my father. If you think you can, then you are mistaken."

"I suppose that you think that he, or any of the rest of your Jedi friends, will be a crutch for you to lean against when standing up to me," taunted Sidious, rising to meet his apprentice and his prisoners. "Not even the Doctor, here with you now, will save you from the Dark Side. They cannot. No, my young Jedi. It is you who are mistaken about a great many things. You will learn this in time."

"Luke doesn't need a crutch to stand up to the Dark Side," said the Doctor. "He's quite strong enough on his own."

"I suppose you think so, Doctor," growled Sidious. "You will find that, where there is a Skywalker, there is the Dark Side. Of course, you will only live just long enough to see your precious student fall to the Dark Side. You will then, of course, die, as will the rest of your friends."

"We'll see," said the Doctor, staring right into Sidious's cold yellow eyes on his pale white face.

"Indeed we will," spat Sidious, glaring at the Doctor.

"Their lightsabers," said Vader, offering both Luke's weapon and the Doctor's weapon to his Master. Sidious took the lightsabers and gazed at them for a brief moment.

"Ah yes, of course," said Sidious. "The weapon of choice for the Jedi. I can sense the Light Side emanating from both of these lightsabers-" he glanced from Luke to the Doctor and back again. "-but there is conflict within each of them. Much like the lightsaber of Anakin Skywalker before he became the man who is standing between the two of you. Doctor, surely you are wise enough to know that Vader can never be turned from the Dark Side of the Force. It will be the same with his son."

"You're wrong, Sidious," said the Doctor. "To be honest, I'll probably be dead at some point in the next hour or so, and you'll be dead along with me."

At this, Sidious, instead of betraying fear, simply laughed. This caught the Doctor off-guard quite a bit.

"Did I miss a funny thing?" he asked confusedly.

"I believe you are referring, Doctor, to the imminent attack of the Rebel fleet," said Sidious, still smiling evilly. "I assure you that we are quite safe from those fools in here."

"You are overconfident, Sidious," said Luke bravely. "Your overconfidence is your weakness."

"Your apparent faith in your friends is yours," snapped Sidious as he walked back to his throne.

All this time, Vader had just been taking in the conversation, and the Doctor couldn't quite tell what he was thinking. Vader's mind was jumbled up in a series of cacophonous trails of thought, conflicted beyond anything the Doctor had ever seen, even in his own mind. But now, Vader spoke, offering what he felt were probably words of wisdom.

"It is pointless to resist his power," he said to the both of them.

Sidious calmly sat down on his throne, Luke's lightsaber in one hand, the Doctor's in his other. He was looking quite smug, and that tipped the Doctor off. Something was very wrong. Very, very wrong.

"Everything that has transpired these past few weeks has done so according to my design," said Sidious, still smiling. "Your friends on the sanctuary moon are walking into a trap. As is your Rebel fleet."

The Doctor's eyes widened. They had all tricked by Darth Sidious again. The Gallifreyan cursed himself for falling for another of the Sith Lord's tricks.

"It was I who allowed the Alliance to know the location of the Death Star and its shield generator," taunted Sidious. "An entire legion of my best troops awaits the strike force you sent to the moon. I assure you that it is quite safe from your pitiful little band."

Both Luke and the Doctor cast their glances downward. The Doctor was certain that Luke was thinking the same thing he was. How had they let themselves get duped? Because of the trickery of Darth Sidious, the entire Alliance would be crushed, and the galaxy would suffer under the rule of Darth Sidious with increased intensity.

"The deflector shield will be operational when your fleet arrives," said Sidious.

The Doctor despaired. He had even sensed the trap, too, just like the last time Sidious had pulled something like this. And he still had walked right into it, just like last time. this time, though, there was a good chance he would die and stay dead. No regeneration. No more Doctor. Just Sidious and his tyrannical rule.

"I'm afraid that none of your friends will survive this," said Sidious in a tone that was mockingly pitying. "Not Kenobi, not Organa, not Mothma, not even your ARC trooper or your little brat, Oswin, Doctor. How does that make you feel?"

The Doctor hung his head. He felt angry. His righteous fury was boiling to the surface again. The fleet would arrive soon, and there was no way to warn them of the trap that lay in wait for them. And the Rebels on Endor itself would also be powerless to stop Sidious's troops. They would all be killed. Unless, of course, they got help from the Ewoks, but even then, it would be a long shot. The Ewoks weren't exactly what the Doctor would call a technological race. There was a good chance he would never see Jennara again.

The Doctor saw lasers and explosions in the distance of space as he looked up. He sighed heavily. The fleet had arrived.

"Come, both of you," ordered Sidious. "See for yourself the fruits of my labor."

The Doctor angrily walked toward Sidious and looked out at the destruction happening in the Death Star's general vicinity. Luke looked sad as he gazed upon the battle. Vader approached his Master, but revealed nothing in terms of feelings. The Doctor looked at him for a moment, then turned back to look at the destruction.

"From here, you will witness the final destruction of the Alliance," said Sidious proudly. "It will be in this room that you, Doctor, will die, and it will be in this room that Luke Skywalker will fall to the Dark Side. It will be in here that my ultimate power shall resume its natural course! I will rule this galaxy for ten thousand years!"

The Doctor and Luke turned briefly to look at Sidious. The Doctor's eyes floated to his lightsaber, which was lying on the left arm of Sidious's throne. He sensed Luke's eyes also fixating on his lightsaber, but only for a brief second.

"Ah, you want these, don't you?" asked Sidious, a smile playing on his face as he patted the lightsabers. "I can feel your anger. Go on. Take them. Give in to that anger. Strike me down. I am unarmed." The Doctor reached out and sensed that that was actually a lie, but said nothing. "With each passing moment, Skywalker, you make yourself more my servant. And Doctor, with each passing moment, you come ever closer to having the rest of your lives stolen from you."

"So, that's your game for me, then?" asked the Doctor. "Stealing my lives. How do you plan to do that?"

"I have my ways, Doctor," said Sidious cryptically.

"Well, good luck with that," said the Doctor in a mockingly cheerful tone of voice. "Counting this one, I've only got three faces left."

"It will suffice," sneered Sidious. "Once young Skywalker is turned to the Dark Side, he will be given one, of course, to rule by my side for ten thousand years, just as I have foreseen."

"You're wrong," said Luke angrily. "I'll never turn to the Dark Side."

"You cannot simply avoid it," said Sidious. "This is your destiny. You will serve me, just like your father. You are mine, Skywalker."

The Doctor and Luke turned away, not wanting to hear Sidious's talking. But talk he did. He was very good at applying Dun Mӧch, even when not in battle. The Doctor could feel his fists clenching in anger as Sidious spoke. He had wanted very badly to kill this man twenty-three years ago, and that feeling seemed to be returning. It was all he could do to stop himself from unleashing a torrent of Force powers in an attempt to kill this man who seemed to be the only one really enjoying himself.

"As you can see, my young apprentice," he said to Luke, now concentrating solely on him, "your friends have failed. And they will die. I think I'll start with the fleet first."

"How do you plan to do that?" asked the Doctor, utterly dreading what was coming next.

"You will see, Doctor," said Sidious. "Bear witness to the firepower of this fully armed and _operational_ battle station!" Cackling, Sidious clicked a communicator on his throne. "Fire at will, Commander!" he shouted.

Seconds later, a huge green laser fired from the Death Star, incinerating one of the ships in the Rebel fleet. The Doctor was reminded eerily of Alderaan when Sidious ordered the commander he was speaking to to fire again.

Sidious laughed, then told the commander that that was enough for now. The fleet had engaged the Star Destroyers that were lying in wait to keep them from escaping. It seemed that there was no hope for anyone. Not the fleet, not the Rebels on the moon, not Luke, not the Doctor, not Obi-Wan, not Fordo, not Leia or Han, not the droids, not Chewbacca.

Not Jennara. Nobody.

 _Is this how it's supposed to end, Qui-Gon?_ asked the Doctor in his thoughts, but he got no response. This was it, then.

"Your Rebel fleet is lost," said Sidious. "Your friends on the Endor moon will not survive. Right now, they are most likely screaming in agony as my troops put an end to their miserable, pathetic lives. There is no escape now, my young apprentice. The Alliance and your friends will die."

Luke and the Doctor both looked at Sidious as he taunted them. The Doctor sensed that Luke was looking again at his lightsaber, while the Gallifreyan himself resisted the urge to stare longingly at his own.

"Good," said Sidious, solely focused on Luke. "I can feel your anger, Skywalker. It gives you focus. Makes you stronger. Take your weapon. Strike me down with all of your hatred, and your journey toward the Dark Side will be complete at last!"

Luke and the Doctor turned away. Both men were disgusted at Sidious. In the Doctor's own eyes, he deserved to die. Sidious was beyond redemption. And as long as he had a hold on Vader, the Doctor and Luke's mission to free him from the Dark Side would fail miserably.

Luke shot the Doctor a look that said, "What do we do?"

 _We strike,_ the Doctor thought to Luke. _Not out of anger, but as a last resort. If I'm being totally honest, which is rare for me, I'd say we'll probably be dead soon anyway. We might as well take Sidious down with us. Your father, too, if we absolutely have to._

Luke gave him another look that said, "Sidious is powerful. I can feel him getting to me."

 _You've just got to keep resisting his words,_ urged the Doctor. _Willpower is key here, Luke. You're strong. I believe in you._

Luke nodded his head just slightly so that only the Doctor could see it. The young man then shot him a telepathic thought. It was weaker than the Doctor's own telepathic communication, but, since they were probably going to die soon anyway, it didn't really matter. And besides, the thought was clear enough to be translated by the Doctor.

 _Geronimo._

The Doctor and Luke whirled around, using the Force to grab their respective lightsabers. In an instant, they activated their sabers, and both men swung at Sidious. The Doctor heard another lightsaber activate, and Vader's red blade met the Doctor and Luke's green blade.

In his throne, Sidious's lips curled into a smile, and a horrible cackle was heard throughout the throne room as the final battle between Jedi and Sith began.

* * *

 **I had a lot of fun writing this one. I tried to capture the intensity of the original scene, plus add in a few Doctor quips for kicks. Things are looking pretty hopeless for the Doctor and friends! Who knows if they'll make it out?! Although, it's not like you can't watch that one movie that's been out for thirty years and find out or anything.**

 **Sarcasm aside, this next chapter was pretty fun to write also, and I hope you enjoy it when it gets posted next week. But what did you think of this one? Leave a review with your thoughts!**

 **On a completely different side-note, I'm thinking of doing a Halo fanfiction. I know I said I would do Subspace Emissary as well, but I actually haven't worked in that in a while. I'll try to get back into it, but I've got so many stories in my head that I had to put it on the backburner for now. I've got a full-blown fanfiction, a novelization (two if you count SSE), and an original story all in my head. It's a mess up in here, I tell you.**

 **Anyway, the Halo fanfiction. I'm thinking of having a team of seven SPARTAN-IIs (six canon Spartans, one OC Spartan) go on a mission to rescue Dr. Halsey from the Covenant. They jump to slipspace, and they get sent back to the present day along with the Covenant. The Covenant plan to kill an ancestor of Halsey's before his child can be born, and the Spartans have to keep the ancestor from harm while also finding a way back. Very Terminator-esque. Anyway, tell me what you think of the idea! I'll probably write it eventually, but let me know whether or not you want to see it!**

 **Next Friday: The final battle commences.**

 **And that about does it for this author's note. Until the next chapter, my friends!**


	11. The Jedi vs the Sith

Chapter Ten: The Jedi vs. the Sith

It was Luke Skywalker who ended up engaging in a lightsaber duel with his father, Darth Vader. The Doctor had broken off from their locked sabers and allowed them to take their fight away from Darth Sidious. He held his lightsaber aloft at the Dark Lord himself, who smiled and stood.

"I have waited to finish what I started on Coruscant for twenty-three years," said Sidious evilly as he produced a lightsaber from his sleeve. "Now, I finally have the chance to kill you again," he added as he activated the red blade of his saber, which made a blood-curdling sound that shook the Doctor to his core. Nevertheless, the Gallifreyan stood his ground against the Dark Lord of the Sith.

"Are you ready to die, Doctor?" asked Sidious as he paced toward the Doctor.

"Are you?" the Doctor shot back, and Sidious lunged toward him. The fight was on.

Two duels were going on at the exact same time: Luke was fighting Vader, and the Doctor was fighting Sidious. Green blades matched red blades blow for blow, marking the first strikes of the final battle. The Doctor didn't think at all about what Luke was doing; he was concentrating purely on defeating Darth Sidious.

The Doctor remembered Sidious being very fast, and the memory of that speed was not in any way tarnished by Sidious in the throne room. Sidious was just as fast as he was when the Tenth Doctor had fought him, if not faster. His red blade hummed menacingly as he and the Doctor continued their duel, matching each other in combat almost perfectly. It seemed as though neither the Doctor nor Sidious were getting the upper hand.

"You're good, Doctor," snarled Sidious when the two legendary combatants' sabers locked together. "Just as good as your last life, it seems."

"Good to know that being able to fight toe-to-toe with you stayed with me through the regeneration," growled the Doctor.

"It matters not," said Sidious. "You will still never defeat me, and your lives will be mine!"

"We'll see," taunted the Doctor as he broke the lock and applied the full extent of his mastery of Ataru to his duel with Sidious.

The Doctor jumped, kicked, and slashed at Sidious, but the Sith Lord could match it completely and perfectly without a flaw in his step. Just like last time, his defenses were perfect and impenetrable, no matter what the Doctor tried. On the plus side, the Doctor kept his defenses just as impenetrable so that he and Sidious really were perfectly matched.

The Doctor was very determined to beat Darth Sidious this time around. As he slashed and swung and sliced as his opponent, he thought of all the misery Darth Sidious had caused. The galaxy was hurting under his control. The Jedi Order was dangerously close to extinction because of his scheming and planning. Who knew how many people he killed during his time as Chancellor of the Republic, and even before that? The Doctor had found a record that the House of Palpatine had been killed off almost entirely when their yacht crashed on Chommell Minor, with Sidious being the only survivor, but the Doctor suspected that there was more to that than had been revealed.

The Doctor quickly concluded that Darth Sidious really was one of the only people he had ever encountered whom he vehemently believed deserved to die, or at the very least have justice be done upon him, which would probably kill him anyway. This, of course, meant that the Doctor or Luke would probably have to kill him. If they failed, nobody else would ever be able to touch the Emperor again.

Sidious snarled in rage as the Doctor cut off a small piece of his left sleeve that he had left open.

"You were fortunate enough to strike me once, Doctor," seethed Sidious. "You will not be so fortunate again."

Sidious attacked again, much harder and faster than ever before. The Doctor had trouble keeping up with all of the moves Sidious was pulling off at once. He had no trouble noticing, however, that Sidious was keeping up his tradition of rapidly switching forms from one to the next. Juyo to Ataru to Djem So to Shii-Cho, then back to Ataru, then to Juyo, the Doctor listed all the forms Sidious went through in about five seconds of strikes and parries. The Doctor had to admit that, as much as he disliked Sidious, the man was a true master of combat.

As the pairs of fighters continued their respective duels, the Doctor found that Sidious was definitely fighting to win this duel. Maybe not to kill him, but to win and to steal his remaining lives, then kill him. The Doctor didn't particularly like that plan, so he fought just as hard to keep Sidious from winning their duel.

 _No, Doctor,_ came the voice of Qui-Gon Jinn suddenly. _He must win._

 _What are you talking about?_ groaned the Doctor, trying his best to keep his thoughts on Sidious while also communicating with Qui-Gon via his thoughts.

 _He must win,_ Qui-Gon said again. _Trust me._

 _Okay,_ said the Doctor. The Doctor did trust him. After all these years, Qui-Gon had never led the Doctor astray. The Doctor would follow Qui-Gon's advice. He would let Sidious win, just this once, and see what happened after that.

The Doctor slackened his grip on his lightsaber just a touch, and sure enough, Sidious took the bait. With a violent slash, the Doctor's lightsaber was knocked right out of his hands. The old lightsaber scattered across the floor of the throne room. The next moment, the Doctor was being held up in the air by invisible chains. His head was allowed to move, but his hands and feet were restricted. From his position in the air, he could see both Sidious and the ongoing duel between Luke and Vader.

The Doctor reached out with his senses to see if the Force was pleased with what he had done, and he got a small nudge of approval from both Qui-Gon Jinn and the Force itself.

"You have lost, Doctor!" cackled Sidious, drawing the Doctor out of his thoughts.

"Well, aren't you going to kill me, then?" shouted the Doctor over the sounds of clashing lightsabers. "Steal my lives?"

"Not yet," said Sidious. "First, I will make you watch."

"Watch what?" asked the Doctor.

His question was never answered. The Doctor suddenly heard a shout come from Darth Vader. Evidently, Luke had fought even harder now that the Doctor had been captured. He had kicked Vader down a flight of stairs, causing the Sith Lord to tumble down and land on his back while Sidious merely laughed as he watched it happen.

"Good," he encouraged Luke. "Use your aggressive feelings, young Skywalker. Let your hate flow through you. Give in to it, and strike him down."

"Remember what I told you, Luke," called the Doctor. "Don't listen to him."

Luke looked from the Doctor to Sidious, then back to the Doctor. He stared at Vader for a few seconds after, then deactivated his lightsaber as his father stood again.

"I won't fight you, Father," said Luke. "I won't do it."

"Obi-Wan and the Doctor have both taught you well," said Vader, stepping up the stairs and approaching his son. "Young Oswin, too."

"Thank you, Father," said Luke, tensing up, from what the Doctor could sense.

"But you are unwise to lower your defenses!" shouted Vader as he brought his lightsaber up to slash at his son. Luke reacted instantly, reigniting his lightsaber and parrying Vader's killing blow.

The two Skywalkers continued to duel ferociously, Luke always on the defensive. The Doctor watched anxiously as Vader continued to hammer his son's blade with his own. Luke defended as best he could, but Vader was too strong. He had the upper hand. Luke decided to retreat from Vader, backflipping up to a long bridge suspended high in the air. The Doctor noticed some hints of an Ataru move in there and was glad to find that he actually had taught Luke well as Vader had suggested.

 _Good, Luke,_ the Doctor thought to the young man. Luke sent back a nudge of thanks as he addressed his father.

"Your thoughts are betraying you, Father, even now," said Luke, applying what the Doctor sensed as Dun Möch. "I can sense the good in you. There is conflict between your two selves. Anakin Skywalker is in there somewhere, trying to get out."

"There is no conflict within me, my son," said Vader. "The Doctor is trying to poison you against me, no doubt."

"Wasn't my idea that you were still good, Vader," called the Doctor. "It was Padme's, and it was your son's."

Vader looked at the Doctor, confusion the predominant feeling in his mind. A word was probably forming on his lips, but then Vader looked at Sidious, glaring at him while telepathically still holding the Doctor prisoner, suspended in midair. The Sith Lord looked back at his son.

"There is no conflict," he said. "My thoughts are clear." It was obvious to anyone that he was lying, so Luke pressed on.

"I don't believe you could bring yourself to kill me on Bespin, and I don't believe you can do it now," said Luke.

"My son, you foolishly underestimate the power of the Dark Side," said Vader. "If you will not fight, then you will meet your end!"

Vader then threw his lightsaber in a deadly arc at Luke. The lightsaber missed Luke, but it did hit the bridge, causing it to collapse and sending Luke tumbling down below the floor on which Vader and Sidious were standing and above which the Doctor was floating. Sidious cackled maniacally, seeming to enjoy every minute of this.

"Having fun, are we?" asked the Doctor.

"Doctor, you have no idea," laughed Sidious. "Very good, Lord Vader," he added as Darth Vader retrieved his lightsaber with the Force and reactivated it. He made his way down below and started to look for Luke.

"Shall we watch, Doctor?" asked Sidious, grinning from ear to ear.

"Not like I have much of a choice either way," spat the Doctor, trying and failing to resist his invisible bonds.

"Such aggression toward me," taunted Sidious. "It will do you no good. Let us watch as your precious student falls to the Dark Side."

Sidious lifted his hand, and the Doctor felt himself moving with the Dark Lord of the Sith as he went to look on Vader, who was searching for his son, red lightsaber humming menacingly.

"You cannot hide forever, Luke," said Vader.

"I will not fight you, Father, no matter what," echoed the voice of Luke, who was trying his best to camouflage himself and keep the fear out of his voice.

"Give yourself to the Dark Side," commanded Vader. "It is the only way you can save your friends. If you turn, they can all be saved from fates far worse than any death they might suffer at the hands of Imperial soldiers."

The Doctor felt a wave of fear and anxiety coming from Luke. He still couldn't quite pinpoint where he was, but neither could Vader, so that was something, the Doctor supposed. Even still, Vader knew that Luke was fearful just as the Doctor had known. His own Dun Möch was working.

"Yes," he said. "Now it is your thoughts that are betraying you. Your feelings for them are strong. They are especially strong for..."

Vader paused for a moment, and the Doctor knew instantly what Luke was thinking.

 _No, Luke, don't think about Leia!_ the Doctor shouted in his thoughts, but it was too late. Vader knew about Leia now. The Jedi's last secret from the Sith was out at last.

"...sister," Vader said smugly, smile evident behind his mask. Sidious was smiling, too, the Doctor could tell. "Your thoughts betray her, too," added Vader. "You were wise to hide her from me, Doctor. Now your final failure is complete. If you won't turn to the Dark Side, Luke, then perhaps your sister will."

What happened next was a whirlwind of furious motion. For an instant, the Doctor felt a tsunami of rage emanate from Luke. Before the Gallifreyan could warn Luke to control it, Luke had already screamed, "NEVER!" at the top of his lungs, activated his lightsaber, and was hammering it into Vader's, enraged beyond anything the Doctor had ever seen in him.

"Luke!" cried the Doctor, but it was no use. Luke was already past the point of listening. Green smacked and barreled into red as Luke attacked his father, furious that Vader would dare mention turning Leia to the Dark Side. The Doctor watched in horror, Sidious in apparent glee, as Luke skirted ever closer to the Dark Side. He pounded Vader with blow after blow, and it was all Vader could do to keep his son at bay. Luke was on the offensive now.

Luke led the duel back to a bridge right near the elevator they had come to the throne room on mere minutes before. He forced Vader to the ground and hammered more strikes into Vader's lightsaber, whittling away at his defenses all the while. Seven times he swung his lightsaber as hard as he could. On the sixth strike, Vader's lightsaber was knocking into an unfavorable placement. Vader wasn't quick enough to stop the seventh strike, which cut off his right hand entirely, sending it and his lightsaber into the abyss over which the bridge was positioned.

Vader groaned in pain as he fell to the ground, quite literally disarmed. Sidious, who watched the whole thing, laughed again, as if he were pleased that Luke had passed some test. The Doctor, however, was less than pleased. Luke was now more susceptible than ever to the lure of the Dark Side. He had to remember not to listen to Sidious. Luke looked at Darth Sidious warily as he spoke.

"Good, young Skywalker!" he grinned. "Very good!"

"I'm sorry, but how exactly is that good?" asked the Doctor sarcastically.

"Hush now, Doctor," ordered Sidious. "The adults are talking. Your hate has made you powerful, Skywalker. Fulfill your destiny as I have foreseen! Strike down your father, and take his place at my side! Together, we can take the Doctor's remaining three lives for ourselves! We will rule the galaxy for ten thousand years!"

"No, Luke!" urged the Doctor. "Look at his hand! Look at Vader's hand!"

Luke, at first, looked as though he would do as Sidious asked, but he instead did as the Doctor asked. He looked at Vader's hand and was horrified to learn that it ended in wires, not flesh, just like his own right hand. Luke stared at his hand in obvious horror as he realized that turning to the Dark Side would turn him into the man his father had become. Luke would have none of it, the Doctor could see, and he deactivated his lightsaber.

"Never," he croaked. "I'll never turn to the Dark Side." And he threw his lightsaber to the floor, sending it clattering on the ground, before giving a small, triumphant smile. Sidious's face went from a smile to a deep, cross frown.

"Ha!" laughed the Doctor from his bonds. "Now, you see that, Sidious? That is a true user of the Force right there!"

"You've failed, Your Highness," said Luke patronizingly. "I am a Jedi, like the Doctor, like Obi-Wan Kenobi, like Jennara Oswin, and like my father before me."

Sidious was silent for a long time, but the Doctor could feel the anger radiating from him in torrents. Rage billowed out from him and he furrowed his brow and frowned.

"So be it," he said, trying very hard to keep his voice level, "Jedi."

"What are you going to do now, o great and mighty Sidious?" asked the Doctor tauntingly.

"You are laughing at the darkness again, Doctor," Sidious shot back. "It will not help you."

"You cannot turn me, so you'll have to kill me, too," said Luke. "And I may die here, but my friends will make sure you will too."

"I will not die!" roared Sidious. "I cannot die! The same cannot be said for you! If you will not be turned, then you will be destroyed!"

At that very moment, Sidious shot a current of Sith Lightning from his fingertips right at Luke. All of Luke's confidence and triumph had vanished as soon as the Lightning hit him. With a grunt, he collapsed to the floor, the Lightning shooting through his body like a blaster bolt. The Doctor had felt Sidious's Sith Lightning before, and he knew to get Luke out of there as soon as he possibly could.

Vader stood and joined his Master, watching along with the still-imprisoned Doctor as Sidious tortured Luke for his refusal to turn.

"Young fool," mused Sidious. "Only now, at the end, do you understand the power of the Dark Side and the severity of your refusal to join me."

He shot another current of Lightning. Luke spasmed even more, grunting against the pain of it all. The Doctor could sense Sidious's glee at using his Lightning again, even though his back was turned to the Doctor. The Doctor thought that maybe he could break free of his bonds now that Sidious was both holding him and shooting Lightning at Luke, but it was no use. Sidious was too powerful. The Doctor was still trapped, with no way to break free.

"Your feeble skills are no match for the Dark Side," continued Sidious angrily, and he shot more Lightning at Luke, who was now screaming in pain.

"You have paid the price for your lack of vision!" shouted Sidious. The Dark Lord shot another torrent of Lightning at Luke, this one longer and more unbearable for the Doctor to watch.

"Father, please!" pleaded Luke above the Lightning before screaming in agony again. Vader simply watched as Sidious tortured his son.

"Vader, help him!" shouted the Doctor. "He's your son!"

But Vader did nothing as Sidious poured Lightning into Luke's body. He did look at Sidious for a moment, but he made no move to help his son. The Doctor reached into Vader's mind and found some serious conflict. Just like the Doctor himself, Vader couldn't bear to watch his son suffer, but he still had a shred of loyalty to his Master. The Doctor sensed that the Vader part of him was clinging to that loyalty, while the Anakin part was screaming with his son.

Sidious stopped the gruesome torture for just a moment to say one thing more.

"And now, young Skywalker," he said before bestially yelling, "YOU WILL DIE!"

And Sidious unleashed another agonizing torrent of Sith Lightning upon Luke. Luke screamed in utter agony, and Vader was doing nothing but watching.

 _Qui-Gon, what do I do?!_ asked the Doctor.

 _He needs another push,_ said Qui-Gon urgently. _Quickly, Doctor. Luke will not last much longer if Sidious is allowed to continue._

The Doctor nodded his head and called to Vader.

"Help him, Vader!" he shouted at the top of his lungs over Sidious's Lightning and Luke's screams. "He's your son! He's Padme's son! If you ever loved her, then in the name of the Force, help your son!"

Vader was teetering. He was looking back and forth between Sidious and Luke. The Doctor knew that Vader had heard him, and he was considering what he had been told. The Doctor could sense that he was still unsure of what exactly to do. One more final push ought to do it, the Doctor told himself as he called once more to the man standing in front of him.

"Anakin, please!" he called.

That did it, certainly. For a brief moment, Vader looked to the Doctor, then to Luke, then to Sidious, then back to Luke, then to Sidious again. Once that brief moment had passed, Vader made his ultimate decision.

Darth Vader forcibly grabbed Sidious by his torso and lifted him off the ground. Sidious was still firing off waves of Sith Lightning, but Vader was now taking the brunt of it instead of Luke, who looked up to see what was happening.

Vader remained completely silent, save for his mechanical breathing, as he carried Sidious over to the edge of the abyss and tossed him in.

The Doctor didn't see what happened to Sidious, but he heard the Sith Lord's final yell as he fell further and further into the abyss.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Sidious as he plunged into the depths. As soon as Sidious reached the bottom, an explosion of Dark Side energy radiated from the abyss and flooded into the throne room, as if Sidious were trying to get back into the room. Almost instantly, however, it flooded back into the abyss, where it would stay forever.

The Doctor felt his bonds break when the Dark Side energy subsided. He collapsed to the floor rather ungraciously, but he didn't care. He had a huge smile on his face that he carried with him even as he hit the ground.

Darth Sidious was gone for good.

* * *

 **Hooray for epic battles! Oh, man, that was a fun chapter to write! Such a tense scene without the dumb "No" in the Blu-ray version or whatever. Anyway, I hope I didn't make the Doctor's battle with Sidious too short. I wasn't going to have him win or anything, as I wanted to keep that scene where Sidious tortures Luke, and I couldn't very well have that if Sidious were dead by the Doctor's hand. I suppose Sidious could have cheated, but the Doctor would have killed him before he got the chance, I think.**

 **Anyway, what did you think of this chapter? Leave your thoughts in a review!**

 **I haven't gotten anything about the Halo fanfic I talked about a few chapters ago. I want to hear your opinions on that! Would you want to read it? Would you not want to? Let me know in a private message! I don't bite! I promise! :D**

 **We're nearing December 18, and that means we're getting closer to Episode VII! Oh, man, I'm so excited! I don't know if I want to do a volume of SW(SD) on Episode VII, though. On the one hand, it would be fun to get back into that universe. On the other hand, I'm finished with this series. Eight volumes and a one-shot is enough, I think. It's time to move on to other things, like the book I'm writing, and the fanfictions I want to write/finish!**

 **I don't know...I don't think I'll do it, to be honest. I think VII would conflict with the canon I've established in SW(SD) already, and that would be a complete mess to write around.**

 **Next Friday: The Doctor, Luke, and the redeemed Darth Vader escape the Death Star, and a special surprise awaits a certain someone.**

 **And that about does it for this author's note. Until the next chapter, my friends!**


	12. The Chosen One

Chapter Eleven: The Chosen One

The Doctor's smile faded when he heard the very labored breathing of Darth Vader. It sounded as though he were struggling to stay alive. The Doctor stood quickly and helped Luke to his feet, and they both rushed over to Vader, who had collapsed on the ground, completely exhausted.

"Father," said Luke, cradling Vader in his arms. "You did it. You turned from the Dark Side."

"Thanks to you," said Vader laboredly. "Both of you. But now, I think I need a Doctor."

The Doctor nodded, beginning to examine his patient.

There was nothing physically wrong with Vader, aside from his missing hand and injuries that had mostly been healed already. So why did the Doctor sense that Vader was in mortal danger? He got his answer when he examined Vader's chestplate, which served as his suit's life support system. Sidious's Sith Lightning had fried the circuitry. Already, his lungs were beginning to fail. Vader's breathing was forced and labored, as if he were struggling to breathe. The Doctor couldn't fix the life support system without the proper tools, and he had a feeling that Vader's lungs would reject regeneration energy. He could heal his own internal organs, but not the internal organs of others.

"His suit's life support system has been destroyed," said the Doctor sadly. "His lungs are failing. His mask and the Force will keep him alive for a little bit longer after his lungs shut down completely, but he has maybe a few minutes to get to a breath mask. Otherwise, he'll die."

"Then we've got to get you to one," said Luke, hoisting Vader up and holding him under the arm. "Come on, Father. You can do it. I know you can."

"I will do...my best," gasped Vader as the Doctor positioned himself under Vader's other arm.

"Come on, then," said the Doctor. "I don't think we have much time to get off this station."

"Where can we find a breath mask?" asked Luke urgently.

"There's a mask on the shuttle we came in on," answered the Doctor. "Let's go."

The two Jedi then carried the redeemed Sith Lord into the elevator. The Doctor told it to go to the hangar bay they had landed in, and he soon became exasperated at how seemingly slow this particular elevator was. Meanwhile, Vader was breathing heavily. The Doctor felt a sense of urgency for him, as he knew that he would not last long. As the elevator took them to the level they needed to get to, Vader started to falter in his step. He was losing his internal battle already.

"It's okay, Father," assuaged Luke. "We've got you."

"We're coming up on the hangar bay now," said the Doctor. "Not much further."

All throughout the Death Star, the Doctor saw troops running through the halls, frantically trying to get anywhere but the Death Star. The Doctor heard the blaring of alarms and a few of the soldiers shouting to each other.

"The shields are down!" one of them cried. "We've got to get out of here! Come on!"

The Doctor quickly figured out that the Rebels had managed to destroy the shield generator. He could have leapt for joy at the fact that perhaps at least one of his friends survived, were it not for the fact that he was carrying Vader on his shoulders. He also realized that, because the shields were down, the Rebel fighters would soon be infiltrating the Death Star itself and probably destroying it if they got to its core fast enough to evade the Imperial TIE Fighters that were certainly pursuing them. If they weren't quick, they would be destroyed along with the Death Star, and that was something that the Doctor would not allow.

At last, they reached the hangar bay, and the Doctor saw the same sights and heard the same sounds here as he did in the hallway. By this time, of course, Vader was growing weaker by the second.

"Just a few more steps!" called the Doctor encouragingly. "You can do it!"

"Come on, Father!" cried Luke breathlessly as he and the Doctor tried to carry him to the shuttle.

But Vader could go no further standing up. In a moment, he collapsed to the ground, forcing Luke and the Doctor to drag him to the shuttle. The two Jedi lay their redeemed comrade on the boarding ramp of the shuttle, urgently attempting to keep him alive.

"I'll get the breath mask!" said the Doctor, but Vader stopped him.

"Wait," he said laboredly. "Wait...Luke, help me take...this mask off."

Luke looked to the Doctor confusedly. What was he saying? Why did he want Luke to take his mask off?

"But you'll die," said Luke.

"Nothing...can stop that now," said Vader. "Just this once...let me look on my saviors...with my own eyes."

"Doctor, can't you do anything to help him?" pleaded Luke as the Doctor knelt down next to him and in front of Vader.

"No," said the Doctor. "I can heal other people's superficial injuries with regeneration energy, but internal organs are out of the question. And his lungs are failing. I'm surprised you even held on this long," he added to Vader.

"As am I...Doctor," said Vader. "Please...I don't have...much longer."

"As you wish," said the Doctor, and he and Luke began to pull off Vader's mask. There was a hissing noise as the Doctor removed the hood of the mask, and then there was a noise like ripping leather as Luke removed the mask's faceplate.

And then, just like that, the face of Anakin Skywalker was visible once again. Anakin smiled at both Luke and the Doctor, and the two Jedi smiled back. There were tears in Luke's eyes as Anakin spoke to them.

"Now...go," he said. "Leave me here."

"No, Father, I can't," said Luke. "I won't leave you here. There's still time to save you."

"You...heard the Doctor...my son," said Anakin. "There is no way...to save my life...but...that doesn't mean...you haven't saved me."

"Father, please," begged Luke.

"You were right, Luke," said Anakin with a smile on his face. "You were right about me. There was...still good in me, just as you...and the Doctor...and my beloved Padme...said. Tell your sister...you were right."

Anakin's eyes began to close, and the Doctor knew that it was his time to go. Anakin Skywalker's facial muscles slackened, and he exhaled for the last time.

"Father," Luke called, tears flowing from his eyes, but it was too late. Anakin was already gone.

"I'm sorry, Luke," said the Doctor. "I'm so sorry."

Luke slowly lowered his head, not responding verbally to the Doctor's sentiment.

The Doctor then realized that the Prophecy of the Chosen One had always referred to Anakin. It stated that he would bring about the end of the Order of the Sith Lords, and he did just that. In doing so, he made the ultimate sacrifice. But he also helped to put the Jedi Order in check, and he effectively balanced the Force by keeping both sides in check, with the Light Side, the ideal balance of the Force, being allowed to continue when the Dark was vanquished, although he presumably did so unwittingly.

"Always the Chosen One," the Doctor muttered to himself as he placed a hand on Anakin's shoulder, ushering his spirit into the Force.

And all he had done in the name of the Chosen One was for the love of his son, whom he had only encountered a few times, and his wife, who had been dead for almost two decades. If Anakin could fully acknowledge that love he held for the both of them and still turn out okay, then surely the Doctor could acknowledge the love he held for a certain someone, too.

"Come on," said the Doctor quietly. "We've got to leave."

 _And I've got to talk to Jennara Oswin,_ the Doctor thought to himself as he entered the shuttle and prepared to leave the Death Star for good.

* * *

The man who was called Anakin Skywalker was dead. In fact, as he woke up in a strange white room, clothed in white robes and looking as he had just before his fall to the Dark Side, he had vividly remembered dying in the arms of his son and the Doctor. But he felt alive. Why did he feel alive? Was it this room? Anakin looked around and saw nobody. Maybe this was some sort of limbo before moving into the Cosmic Force. But people died all the time. Shouldn't they be in here with Anakin to move on to the Cosmic Force as well? Unless...

"This is not limbo," Anakin heard a voice he recognized quickly as the voice of Qui-Gon Jinn. Anakin looked around and found Qui-Gon Jinn himself standing at the edge of the room, smiling brightly at him.

"This is a waiting room," he added.

"Qui-Gon," Anakin called out, and he was surprised to find that his voice sounded to him as it had before he fell to the Dark Side. Qui-Gon chuckled a little.

"Not quite," he said, smiling.

"What do you mean?" asked Anakin. "You're not Qui-Gon?"

"No," said the man who looked like Qui-Gon. "Though he sends his best regards."

"Then who are you?" asked Anakin warily.

"I am the Force," said the man.

"You're the Force," repeated Anakin, not sure if he had heard.

"That's right," said the Force.

"How are you here?" asked Anakin.

"That is a simple question with a bit of a complex answer," said the Force. "Understand, Anakin, that I cannot take a permanent physical form. Otherwise, people would just ask me to fix everything for them whenever they want. I cannot do that. I can, however, guide people who have the ability to listen to me to fix other people's problems. I can also appear in visions to people who can listen to me as ghosts from their pasts."

"So, I'm having a vision," deduced Anakin. "But why do I remember dying?"

"That's because you aren't having a vision," said the Force. "You actually are dead. But instead of just whisking you off into the big gelatinous Cosmic Force, I figured that you, being who you are, deserved something a little bit more… rewarding, shall we say?"

"And that's why I was brought here," inferred Anakin.

"Correct," said the Force. "And, if you're wondering, I appeared to you in this body because not only is it a personal favorite of mine, but it also has special significance to you."

"Yeah," said Anakin. "Qui-Gon introduced me to the Force."

"And to your destiny," said the Force. "Yes, Qui-Gon has always been a very humble and loyal servant, always doing what was required of him. He found out my secret, too."

"Secret?" asked Anakin, befuddled by that last comment from the Force.

"Yep," said the Force cheerily. "The Doctor found it out, too, but I, of course, had always intended for the both of them to find out. But we'll get to that in a minute. Sit."

The Force gestured behind Anakin, and he looked back to find that a long couch had appeared behind him, where the Force had gestured. Anakin walked back to the couch and sat. The Force did so as well and looked at Anakin with a big grin.

"Well done," said the Force.

"What are you talking about?" asked Anakin.

"You fulfilled the Prophecy, Anakin," explained the Force, still bearing that wide grin. "The Prophecy of the Chosen One."

"But how...how is that possible?" asked Anakin, shocked. "I turned to the Dark Side. It was said that I would destroy the Sith, not join them."

"No," said the Force. "That's the interpretation of the Jedi. The real prophecy says that you will keep both the Light and the Dark in check. And you did. You brought down the Old Jedi Order, making way for the New Jedi Order, which will be far more balanced than the Old, I can assure you. And you also destroyed the Sith for good, making the ultimate sacrifice along the way. That is the ultimate fulfillment of the Prophecy."

"I did it," said Anakin quietly, nodding his head.

"You did it," said the Force, still smiling. "You even taught the Doctor a few things about love along the way, which is no small feat."

Anakin smiled, happy with himself at last.

"Will the Dark Side come back?" asked Anakin.

"I don't think so," said the Force. "At least, not as powerful as the Banite Sith. If the Dark Side does return, the Light Side won't need a Chosen One to vanquish it."

"So, my work is done," said Anakin. "I can move on to the Cosmic Force now?"

"If you want," said the Force.

"What do you mean?" asked Anakin.

"Well, Anakin, that's partially why you're here," said the Force. "You see, people don't normally come here and have a chat with the Force itself after they die. But you are a special case."

"Special?" asked Anakin.

"That's right. You're my Chosen One, and since you fulfilled my Prophecy quite spectacularly, I have an offer for you."

"An offer?"

"Remember that secret I mentioned to you? Well, it's essentially immortality. You can exist between life and death as a ghost. Your consciousness will still be intact instead of being an unnamed part of the big gelatinous Cosmic Force. How does that sound?"

"I could see my son again?" asked Anakin, excited at the prospect of talking to Luke again.

"Yes, whenever you want," said the Force.

"Are you sure I deserve such an honor?" asked Anakin, unsure of himself. "I mean, all the things I did-"

"Are forgiven," finished the Force. "You deserve this, Anakin. You deserve to be with your son. Of course, you don't have to take the offer. You can always become part of the Cosmic Force, but I figured you would want to at least hear the offer, anyway. So, what do you say?"

Anakin thought for a long moment. He could see his son again, all his friends, and possibly even their families, if they were to have one. He would surely be forgiven by Obi-Wan, to whom he desperately wanted to apologize for everything he had done. Anakin decided that he would like to become a Force Ghost. Very much.

After the long moment of thought, Anakin nodded his head.

"I'd like that," he said.

"Excellent choice," said the Force, smiling even brighter than before. "Now, follow my instructions exactly..."

* * *

 **Because who doesn't love a conversation with the Force? Hello, all, and thank you for reading another chapter of Star Wars (Starring the Doctor) Episode VI: Return of the Jedi! Hope you enjoyed it! I certainly enjoyed writing this one.**

 **This was kind of a sad one because it's right near the end of the main series, but it's nice because of that fact as well. My favorite part was writing the conversation between Anakin and the Force. In the book "The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader," it indicates that Anakin spoke with Obi-Wan's ghost after he died, but here, that wasn't feasible because Obi-Wan isn't dead here. So, the next best choice had to be either the Force itself or Qui-Gon Jinn. Why not a little of both? Let's have him talk to the Force, who is in the guise of Qui-Gon Jinn. Seemed like a good idea. But tell me what you think of it in a review! Your reviews are all being read, I promise!**

 **That last line from the Force was also a direct quote from what Obi-Wan says to Anakin in the actual book, I think. I thought that would be a nice touch for, like, the five people who actually read it.**

 **Anyway, we're getting down to the wire here, folks! Just a little bit more left, then it's off to "Return to the Temple" and "Adventures of the Doctor," then that's it for this series! It's very exciting, I think!**

 **Still haven't heard anything about that Halo fic I discussed in an earlier chapter. Would you guys like to see that? Let me know! Review, PM, doesn't matter! As long as I know your opinion!**

 **Next Friday: The Doctor and Luke return to Endor to give Anakin Skywalker the Jedi burial he deserves.**

 **And that's about it for this author's note. Until the next chapter, my friends!**


	13. Funeral for a Jedi

Chapter Twelve: Funeral for a Jedi

The Doctor and Luke Skywalker carried Anakin Skywalker's body gently into the shuttle, grabbing the mask he wore as Darth Vader before closing up the boarding ramp. Already the alarms were blaring almost out of control, and pieces of the hangar bay were falling from the ceiling and walls. It was as though the Doctor had regenerated in there all over again, but he, of course, knew that that wasn't true. The Death Star's core had been destroyed by the Rebel fighters, just as they had planned. The Rebels had taken Darth Sidious's final plan and inverted it on itself. The Empire was finished, their ultimate weapon destroyed for good.

Of course, the Doctor and Luke were still inside. They had to get out of there fast.

After running a cursory systems diagnostic, the Doctor and Luke took the Imperial shuttle and piloted it straight out of the Death Star's hangar bay, which erupted in a ball of flame behind them. Luke gave a sigh of relief as they flew away from the Death Star for the last time. The Doctor could see almost the entire Rebel fleet, minus a few capital ships and fighters, flying straight to Endor, their mission complete. Off to his left, he spotted the _Millenium Falcon_ , safe and sound, flying out of a large opening in the Death Star.

"Han's going to be happy about that," he muttered to himself.

The next moment, the Doctor heard a great grinding noise, followed immediately by a booming explosion that rocked the shuttle he and Luke were flying. The Doctor quickly concluded that the Death Star had exploded behind them, and he smiled.

"And the Rebels are going to he happy about _that_ ," he again muttered to himself.

The shuttle joined the Rebel fleet, and they were hailed by _Home One_.

"Imperial shuttle, this is Admiral Gial Ackbar of Alliance flagship _Home One_ ," said the voice of Ackbar. "State your name, rank, and intention."

"Admiral Ackbar, this is the Doctor speaking," said the Doctor almost instantly. "My name is the Doctor. My rank is probably Doctor, but it could also be Grand Master of the Jedi Order. My intention is usually fun, but today, it's just getting out of the Death Star and back on Endor."

"It is good to hear your voice, Doctor," said Ackbar, a smile evident in his voice. "But what were you doing on the Death Star?"

"Oh, you know, the usual," the Doctor said casually. "Vanquishing the Dark Side, helping to save the universe."

"Sounds like quite the adventure," said Ackbar. "You will have to relay me the details sometime."

"Absolutely, Admiral," said the Doctor. "See you on the surface."

And he clicked off the communicator in the shuttle. The Doctor and Luke nodded to each other and piloted the shuttle down to the surface of Endor, right near the shield generator for the now-destroyed Death Star. The Rebels and Ewoks on the ground were a bit wary of the shuttle, but as soon as they saw who was coming down the boarding ramp, they leapt and cheered for joy.

The Doctor and Luke were quickly greeted jovially by Han, Leia, Jennara, Fordo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2, who were all shouting to the two Jedi about their victory. The Doctor and Luke were beaming at their friends, hugging them and slapping each other on the backs.

"We did it!" cried Chewbacca. "The Ewoks helped us defeat the Empire!"

"I must admit that, despite their size, the Ewoks are natural-born fighters," observed Fordo.

A particularly cute Ewok, who, the Doctor later found out, was named Wicket, came up to Han and Leia and hugged their legs. Han smiled and scratched the little guy behind the ears as the _Millenium Falcon_ landed in a clearing. Lando Calrissian triumphantly swaggered down the boarding ramp with his equally triumphant crew in tow.

Lando immediately ran over to his old friend, Han, and hugged his brother-in-arms tightly.

"You did it, buddy!" he laughed. "I always knew you could!"

"You should have seen General Calrissian!" cried Wedge Antilles, a very prominent pilot in the Rebel Alliance, who had joined the group. "He was the one who blew up the power generator!"

"Well, look at you!" said Han, amazed at his friend.

"I was just doing my job," Lando said humbly.

"Come on, you guys!" called Leia, who was moving to join the Rebels who had just landed in _Home One_. "We've got a celebration to plan!"

And Leia, Han, Chewbacca, Lando, Wedge, and the droids ran off to greet Admiral Ackbar and the other crew members of _Home One_. Fordo and Jennara stayed with the Doctor and Luke to talk with them some more.

"So," said Fordo, mockingly accusing the Doctor, "any reason you two just walked off from a truly epic battle?"

"We had our own battle to fight," answered Luke quietly. He was still sad about his father's death, the Doctor could tell.

"What's wrong, Luke?" asked Jennara consolingly.

But before Luke could answer, the joyous voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi rang out to them.

"Luke!" he cried as he ran as fast as he could to his pupil and friend.

Luke beamed and tightly hugged Obi-Wan, who was like a father figure to him.

"It's so good to see you made it, Ben!" cried Luke.

"The same can be said for you, my boy," said Obi-Wan. "For all of you," he added to the Doctor, Jennara, and Fordo.

"Good to see you, too, sir," said Fordo, saluting the old Jedi General. "Doctor, if you don't mind, I'll go and greet Admiral Ackbar."

"Of course," said the Doctor. "Go right ahead, General."

"Sir," said Fordo with one last salute before running off.

"I sense that the Force has been placed back into balance," said Obi-Wan. "I trust that the Sith are destroyed, then."

"Yes," said the Doctor.

"Well, that's wonderful!" shrieked Jennara.

"Indeed it is," said Obi-Wan. "Congratulations are in order for you both."

"Not for us," said Luke with a glance at the shuttle.

"What do you mean?" asked Obi-Wan.

"We didn't destroy the Sith," said the Doctor. "Anakin did."

"Anakin?" asked Obi-Wan, momentarily speechless. "You mean..."

"Yes, Obi-Wan," said the Doctor, placing a hand on his old friend's shoulder. "Luke was right. Padme was right. There was still good in him. He sacrificed himself to save his son and destroy Darth Sidious, destroying himself in the process."

"He turned back," said Obi-Wan almost breathlessly. "He fulfilled the Prophecy, at the cost of his own life."

"That's right," said the Doctor. "We had one last conversation with him before he died. We brought him here for a funeral."

"Of course," said Obi-Wan, beaming at the thought of his best friend and brother turning back from the Dark and fulfilling his destiny. "Oh, Anakin, you brave, brave man."

"My father would have liked to hear you say that," said Luke sadly.

"I'm certain of it," said Obi-Wan. "Come, Luke. We will make the preparations for your father's funeral pyre."

"Right," said Luke, walking with Obi-Wan to the shuttle to retrieve Anakin's body.

The Doctor and Jennara were left alone.

"Jennara," said the Doctor.

"Doctor," Jennara said at the exact same moment. They both chuckled a little.

"I need to tell you something, Jennara," said the Doctor. "It's very important and relevant."

"Now, there's a shock," joked Jennara.

"It is," said the Doctor. "I've come to a revelation."

"Go on," said Jennara, interested in what the Doctor had learned.

"Anakin Skywalker sacrificed himself for the love of his son," said the Doctor. "He made the ultimate sacrifice to spend time with his son, even if it was just a few moments at the end of his life. And it made me think. If he could do that, just for those few moments, then I could certainly do the same for you."

"Doctor," said Jennara, blushing furiously. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I...love you, Jennara," said the Doctor. "And I want to spend as much time with you as I possibly can. I might not be able to spend the rest of my lives with you, but I can guarantee that I will treasure the moments that I do spend with you for the rest of time."

"Doctor!" shrieked Jennara, wrapping up in a big hug that made the Doctor's hearts skip a beat and made the Doctor himself smile radiantly.

The Doctor and Jennara looked at each other, still wrapped in each other's arms, and finished what they had started on Dagobah a year ago.

The Doctor's lips inched ever closer to Jennara's. He could feel the heat from her skin already. Closer and closer they got to each other until their lips finally met.

The Doctor's hearts raced. He was beyond happy to have finally kissed Jennara. It was as though his life were leading to moments like these, and as soon as they parted, he wanted to kiss her again.

"Wait a minute," said Jennara. "What about the Jedi Code? Doesn't it forbid romantic attachment? Surely the Grand Master of the Jedi Order would want to adhere to that?"

"Sorry, did you just tell me the rules?" asked the Doctor jokingly. "I'm not really one for following rules much. Not in this body, anyway."

"Good answer," said Jennara, smiling, and she kissed the Doctor once more.

As before, the Doctor was beyond happy.

* * *

The funeral of Anakin Skywalker took place that night. As per Jedi custom, his body was burned to release his energy into the Force. The only people in attendance were Jedi. The Doctor, Jennara Oswin, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Luke Skywalker all came to pay their final respects to the savior of the galaxy.

Luke Skywalker carried the torch that would be used to light Anakin's pyre. The pyre itself was made of a bed of large, thick branches that the Ewoks had graciously let the Jedi use. On top of the pyre lay Anakin Skywalker himself, encased in the armor that had been Darth Vader's. Vader's armor had been a part of Anakin just as much as Anakin's own body, so the Jedi decided that it would be best to burn the armor with Anakin.

Luke lit the pyre and stepped back to join the Doctor, Jennara, and Obi-Wan. All four of them watched as the flames consumed the body of their fallen comrade. Nobody spoke a word out of respect for Anakin, but they all had their own private last rites for Anakin. The Doctor knew this to be true. Occasionally, there was a sniffle from either Luke, Jennara, or even Obi-Wan at one point. Other than that, the only sound that could be heard was the sound of crackling flames from the roaring fire.

The Doctor held Jennara in his arms as the flames began to die down. After the fire was reduced to a few sparks, the Jedi began to leave the pyre, letting it stand as a monument to the Chosen One. Jennara left first, separating herself from the Doctor after one last squeeze. Obi-Wan left shortly after her, and, after a few more minutes, Luke left. Soon, only the Doctor was left with Anakin.

"Always the Chosen One," he repeated what he said after Anakin had died. "Well done, mate."

The Doctor left the pyre at last, thinking to himself.

Anakin Skywalker would be remembered for his bravery and his strength to turn back to the Light even when he seemed to be consumed in darkness. He would be remembered for his unconditional love for his family, even though he certainly didn't know all of them. He would be remembered as a hero for his exploits during the Clone War. What a life he had led, the Doctor thought to himself. He smiled as he remembered the day he had met Anakin. The power that little nine-year-old boy had conveyed, even then, was greater than anything the Doctor had sensed before.

Anakin Skywalker would be remembered, the Doctor told himself.

Always.

* * *

 **Heh heh...I can explain...**

 **See, I was really busy last night, and it just completely slipped my mind that I hadn't posted yesterday. I apologize profusely for the lateness of this chapter! *hides behind computer* Pleasedon'tkillmepleasedon'tkillmeI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!**

 **Okay, so now that we've gotten that out of the way...**

 **There she is! The final (full) chapter of Star Wars (Starring the Doctor) Episode VI: Return of the Jedi! What did you think? Leave your thoughts in a review! It's been quite a ride, my friends! But it's not over yet! There are a few more stories that need to be told...**

 **There's still the epilogue, of course, which will be posted tomorrow. Then, it's back to the regular schedule (hopefully)! I'll save my heartfelt farewells for the epilogue, but it's gonna get mushy. Let me tell you. Not really, but it could. I don't know.**

 **Anyway, still excited for Star Wars Episode VII. Just over four months away! Very exciting indeed!**

 **That Halo fanfiction is still up in the air, guys! Would you like to see that? Let me know! I take your opinions to heart, guys! They really mean a lot to me!**

 **Tomorrow: The Doctor celebrates the end of the Galactic Civil War and of the Order of the Sith Lords.**

 **And that's about it for this author's note. Until the epilogue, my friends!**


	14. Galactic Celebration

Epilogue: Galactic Celebration

As the Gallifreyan Jedi Grand Master known as the Doctor walked back to the Ewok village in the trees, he could hear the booming sound of fireworks being set off in the Endor night sky. He smiled to himself. He knew that the entire galaxy, from Bespin to Tatooine to Naboo to Coruscant, was celebrating the defeat of the Galactic Empire and the death of Emperor Palpatine, under whose tyrannical rule they had suffered long enough. Every single planet, the Doctor could sense, was lighting up with the sounds of cheers and whoops of joy. But nowhere in the galaxy was the celebration more joyous, more deserved, than on Endor.

It was on Endor that the Empire suffered its ultimate defeat. The Rebel Alliance chose to have their own celebration there, in the Ewok village that had helped them considerably when all seemed lost. And it was to that Ewok village that the Doctor was headed.

As soon as he arrived, the Doctor was swept up in a hug by Jennara Oswin. After they reluctantly parted, the Doctor began to dance with her. Everyone was dancing, hugging, and overall having a good time. Even Luke Skywalker was celebrating, despite having just buried his own father. His father had died a good man and was an integral part of defeating the Empire, however, so the Doctor figured that Luke was celebrating in his memory.

The Doctor initiated a dance that he had called the "Drunk Giraffe," and everyone seemed to love it, trying their best to join in his awkward dance. Even Fordo let himself loose a little and did the Drunk Giraffe with his old friend and commander, the Doctor.

The Doctor laughed with joy. He hadn't had this much fun in a very long time. He danced with everyone, Ewoks and Rebels alike, and even Obi-Wan Kenobi at one point. The man may have been old, but he could dance quite well, the Doctor observed.

At one point near the midpoint of the party, the four Jedi-the Doctor, Jennara, Luke, and Obi-Wan-had clumped together to enjoy each other's company. During their conversation, which contained much joyous laughter, Luke looked out into the distance and froze. The other three Jedi looked with him and found that they had been joined by a fifth Jedi. The ghost of Anakin Skywalker had appeared before them, smiling radiantly. He was clad in white robes, and his looks had returned to those handsome features he had had before his descent into the Dark Side. He waved at the Jedi, still smiling quite brightly, and the Jedi waved back, each one of them smiling just as brightly as Anakin. The Doctor could see a tear in Luke's eye as he was pulled back into the party by Leia. Obi-Wan joined him, nodding and smiling one last time at his best friend. Jennara left as well, and the Doctor told her he would join her shortly.

It might have been the Doctor's own wild imagination, but he thought he saw someone appear beside Anakin. Ten someones, as a matter of fact. If the Doctor's eyes weren't tricking him, then he was definitely sure that all ten of his previous incarnations had appeared in front of him. All of them, from the First Doctor all the way to the Tenth Doctor, were smiling at him. The Doctor knew what those smiles meant. He had finally proven himself worthy of the title "Doctor," and he would continue to uphold that name for the rest of his eleventh life and into his twelfth and thirteenth lives.

The Doctor bowed to Anakin and to his previous incarnations, and they all bowed back as he left to rejoin the party. As he danced with Jennara, he looked back at where Anakin and the previous Doctors were, but only Anakin was there, still smiling radiantly and clapping along with the music that the Ewoks were playing.

"Who were you bowing to just then?" asked Jennara.

The Doctor took a long time to answer, but when he answered, he did so with a big old grin on his face.

"Just some old friends," he said.

And the Doctor continued to dance with Jennara.

As the celebration went on, the Doctor and his friends and companions laughed the night away, thinking only of their astounding victory. As the Doctor looked out on all those happy faces-the faces of Luke, Han, Leia, Chewbacca, Lando, Jennara, Obi-Wan, Fordo, Wedge, and even the droids and the Ewoks-he thought about the peace of mind and soul that had been achieved for all beings by the defeat of the Sith. The peace that the Doctor and his friends had been striving for for over thirty years. This peace, felt by all beings, and certainly by the Gallifreyan Jedi Master, would last forever. The Dark Side may return, but the Doctor knew in his hearts that the Light would ultimately triumph over all things Dark because of what they had done here on Endor. And that was a comforting thought, indeed, the Doctor realized as he danced the night away with his friends-no, not his friends. His family.

This was the story of the Doctor, and this is how it ends.

* * *

 **And there you have it! The end of the main story of Star Wars (Starring the Doctor)! While it isn't quite the end of the story for the Doctor just yet, the main part of his story is, in effect, finished. I made it all sentimental and such because it's the end, and I like sentimental endings, okay? Don't judge me! :P**

 **Moving on to the farewells (for now, anyway). Friends, this has been quite the undertaking. To write these seven volumes took me about nine months in total of just constantly working it out, both in my head and on the page, and I am honestly surprised at myself that I finished it at all. If I'm being really honest with myself, it's because of you all that I did. Your support has been invaluable to me, guys, regardless of whether it was a favorite, a review, a PM, or just simply reading the story and (hopefully) enjoying what I had to write and share with you all. So, while I was the one typing away at this computer, trying (and succeeding, not to brag) to finish this story before I turned eighteen, you guys were the ones who helped me immensely with your support and encouragement. You were the ones who made this story happen.**

 **And for that, I couldn't possibly begin to thank you enough.**

 **But this isn't the end, not yet, friends. No, there's still more story coming. This Friday will mark the beginning of the "add-ons." These are not part of the main seven volumes, but they are stories that I wanted to tell. There are two portions to this: "Return to the Temple" and "Adventures of the Doctor."**

 **"Return to the Temple" is a one-shot in which Jennara and the Eleventh Doctor, as the title suggests, return to the Jedi Temple after being away for twenty-five years. There will be feels that will be felt. That will be posted on Friday.**

 **"Adventures of the Doctor" is a delving into the first-person. In this, the Eleventh Doctor writes down a story from each of his previous incarnations for this universe's version of the New Jedi Order. It was a lot of fun to write this, and I hope you like it!**

 **As I said before, thank you all so much for your support of this story. It really means a lot to me! Leave your thoughts of this epilogue, this volume, or this series as a whole in a review! I really do appreciate them all!**

 **Friday: The Doctor and Jennara return to the Jedi Temple after twenty-five long years of absence.**

 **And that's about it for this rather lengthy author's note. Until the one-shot, my friends!**

 **blade0627**


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